The meaning of being home
by rosen-fenrir
Summary: Years after the war, a weary Yang returns to her oldest home to visit and take a much needed vacation after travelling Remnant to fight Grim. She makes an effort to get there before sundown, since someone very special is waiting for her. But something stilll worries Yang, torturing her at the back of her mind and dragging her down while the others move on / Multi chapter story now!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! this is my first RWBY fic of many I hope. English is not my first language so bear with me please. Semi-surprise implied ship at the end notes, but i will confirm that this will have at least 2 of the popular ships ;) Enjoy!**

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As she approached the cabin in the middle of the Woods, a mix of bagged emotions came to her mind. Good times and bad swirled before her very eyes, trying to take a hold of her; a tainted past filled with pain and darkness trying to consume the light the good memories evoked. Closing her lilac eyes, Yang took a deep breath and let the oxygen fill her lungs; erasing all thought from her mind. A few seconds passed and then she exhaled slowly, candid eyes opening as she did.

Her childhood home looked as warm and inviting as she always pictured it whenever she thought of her Father, who should be taking his afternoon nap right about now, if her calculations of the position of her namesake indicated. She wondered briefly if he looked any older than the last time she saw him a few months ago, when she had abruptly pointed out that he had a very noticeable white patch on his beard.

A small but honest smile came to her lips as she reflected on her father; but as thrilled as she was to see him again, there was someone else waiting for her in that cabin. Someone she missed everyday of every week, even if she tried to deny it. Even more than her own sister, but she would never tell her that in fear of her reaction. It was love at first sight, for sure.

Thinking of who she was going to see in her old home, she started walking a bit faster, just enough so she would get there 5 minutes earlier. Her off-duty clothes rustling slightly with each step of her brown leather boots; an almost imperceptible mechanic sound coming from her right side, as she held a medium sized shoulder bag. Her long hair tied up in a tall ponytail moving from left to right, grazing her duster jacket; the hems burnt or ripped in sections, telling tales of her adventures as a well-traveled huntress.

Life was good. Or as good as it could be considering the state of the world at the moment. They won. Through hell and back they made it, defeated Salem and her mad creatures and saved Remnant from being snuffed out of existence. It was hard, painful and exhausting as it could be, like many things in life; yet the result and what came years later made it all worthy. Even when she had to build up her reputation from the ground; fortunately, the one called Mercury Black had confessed what really happened in a crazy rant that was transmitted globally as part of a series of trials to show the population what had started it all. His testimony and medical evidence of the state of his legs matched perfectly and Yang was stated as another victim of the Fall of Vale.

Turns out It takes some time for people to trust again, even if she helped save the world, and she wouldn't fault them for it. But as of now, she was happy with what she had. And that was a month long vacation, free of her Huntress duties and no freelancer Grimm extermination either, only relaxation and a strawberry sunrise every day. No ice and one of those little umbrellas.

But most of all, she would see Her again The one she couldn't help but love with all her heart, no matter what she did, no matter how she looked at her; her heart would flutter with such intensity she would later worry for her health. And as it happens, she was also visiting for a week or so. Life was truly good for the Dragon Huntress, and she was going to capitalize on it.

Soon enough, Yang Xiao Long reached the doorstep of her oldest home, raised her left hand and just pressed her palm against it. The warmth of the wood absorbed from the sunlight was a feeling that brought great comfort to the blonde, the slightly rigged texture of the door tickled her fingertips. She was glad she had taken off her usual gloves for the trip, if only for the pleasure of feeling the texture and warmth. With a determined look, she knocked on the door, getting a little nervous with each passing second.

\- "Coming!". The voice of her little sister filled her ears and suddenly the door opened. There she was, her baby sister, now only a few inches smaller than her but still the same sweet girl she used to know. Before she could truly look at her, she noticed silver eyes getting as wide as possible and in a second she was replaced by falling petals and added weight to her neck. Since Ruby decided to use her semblance to jump at her and hug the life out of her.

\- "YANG!" Yep, that was her sister alright.

\- "Ruby!". Soon enough, her bag was thrown off her shoulder and with as much care as she could muster, she gave her the biggest hug she had to offer. Mostly pressing with her left but still, an Ursa hug like she used to when they were younger. No matter that they stopped being children long ago, they would always say hello this way. Yang was turning 25 soon, and Ruby looked more and more like Summer every time she saw her again; it was bittersweet. Still, the ever present red cape gave her a tiny relief that her sister would never change being who she was.

\- "How was the trip? Did you have any trouble with the Grimm? Do you need a recalibration?"- A little overwhelmed by her quick questions, Yang set her sister on the floor and held her by the shoulders.

-"Eeeeasy there Sis, I just got here, we'll have plenty of time to talk so don't worry! OK?". - Silver eyes reflected her happiness at being home right back at her, despite the small signs of lack of sleep around them; her younger sister just smiled back at her and with a wave of her hand, invited the blonde to come in.

Shaking her head at the antics of her sister, the taller woman turned around to close the door, her shoulder bag conveniently thrown inside the room after Ruby had tackled her, she pushed it slightly more in before closing the door with her left hand. Silently enough in case her father was napping downstairs instead of his room.

\- "So, how have you been sis?"- Yang asked as she followed the 23 year old huntress to the kitchen, no signs of her father or Her around. A snort-laugh escaped Ruby's lips as she reached the kitchen counter that held all the beverages and cups.

\- "I've been doing better actually, but I'm surprised you didn't ask about Her first, honestly."- Yang arched an eyebrow in question, a bit of shame dusting her cheeks, but before she could say anything, Ruby offered her a cup filled with very warm water.

\- "Coffee, Tea or milk?"- taking the offered cup, Yang left a little sigh escape, unintentionally blowing over the surface of the water.

\- "Tea please. Also, of course I'm gonna ask about you first, it's polite… Don't ya think?"- Turning around with a tea bag on her hand, Ruby faked a hurt expression and brought her free hand over her heart.

\- "Polite? Geez sis, I though you loved me the most! Betrayed! By my own sister!"-Rolling her eyes, the blonde set the cup on the counter and took the offered tea bag from her sibling.

\- "You know what I meant. But… since you brought her up. How's she? She doing ok?"- A hundred questions got stuck inside Yang's throat, but she didn't want to seem too eager to know. Done preparing her tea, she swallowed them down with the beverage.

\- "She's perfect! We made it just in time too. I thought the flight might upset her but she slept right through it all."- A big smile made its way into Ruby's face, erasing some of her sleep deprived features and coloring her face a shade more red. Yang couldn't help but smile as well.

\- "I bet she did… How's Weiss? Haven't heard from her in a…?"- Before she could end the sentence, a small noise made itself heard through the corridors of the cabin. It was almost imperceptible, but fast as always, Ruby was the first to hear it; swiveling her head around so quickly it might have hurt, Yang was 2 seconds behind her. The sound of small crying. Tiny, tiny noises that could pierce a heart faster than a bullet, and in Yang's case, accelerate hers and stop her breathing at the same time.

Without thinking, she advanced two long hurried steps towards the stairs before she realized she had moved. She turned around and looked into her sister's silver eyes and instead of the mocking she expected, saw only understanding.

\- "Don't worry, Dad is nearby. Get going, I'm gonna grab a glass of milk before I go." As soon as she said that, Yang nodded and made her way upstairs, where she could hear more clearly what was going on. Her father had woken up already and could be heard talking to the other person in the room. Yang made it to the slightly closed door, barely noticing it was their old bedroom, the one with the twin beds, just guiding herself by the voices. She raised her right hand for the first time since she arrived; her left was shaking with anticipation, and pushed the door open softly.

The first thing anyone would notice was the grown man seemingly looking out the window, but Yang could sense Her even before she could see Her. The tiny human resting comfortably on her grandpa's chest. Ruby's kid. Her niece.

At that moment Taiyang heard the little creak of the door hinges and turned around; his oldest standing there, looking directly at the baby in his arms. And he could see the emotions playing on his daughter's face, but could not give them a proper name. It was probably a storm of emotions but if he had to choose one, it would be love. That wouldn't be strange though, considering Yang was the most caring person he knew alive. Summer taught her well.

\- "You planning on standing there all day or are you gonna give your old man a hug? Also, I think she just noticed you."

Yang was too happy to care at her father's words. Her niece turned her head sideways and was looking at her direction, icy eyes that were still somewhat sleepy. She wasn't sure if 5 months was enough for babies to recognize anyone other than her parents. Suddenly she felt guilty, the last time she saw her niece, she was 2 months old. She was bigger for sure and more beautiful and cute than ever. Her dark hair that used to be so scarce was all over her head now, no red tips but time might tell still.

Suddenly Yang realized she hadn't said a word in the 20 seconds she had been staring. Stammering a little, she composed herself.

\- "He-hey Dad, how's the little girl doing?"- She cursed herself for being so weak and asking the wrong question, considering she hadn't seen her dad longer than her niece.

-"I'm fine thank you. Also she just woke up, she's a bit sleepy, so I think she hasn't realized yet her mother is not in the room."- Yang's eyes traced every little detail that had changed about her baby niece, now with her eyes a bit more open, she was looking at her curiously, which both warmed and hurt her as equally. She hadn't been there every day for her, she couldn't have. She had duties, and obligations. And there was the fact that she was just her aunt, so she shouldn't be feeling guilty about it. But she did anyways, because she cared too much.

Before she could even fathom stepping closer, her sister entered the room, scroll in hand and big eyes looking everywhere and nowhere.

\- "There's been a thing at Weiss' meeting in Vale, there's something going on they need me right now. A fast transport is 5 minutes away". Suddenly she centered her eyes on her daughter and took her from her father's arms. Taiyang left the room saying something about packing dinner. Ruby's arm held her giggling daughter safely, with the ease and naturalness that comes with practice. The dark haired girl smiling at her, Yang couldn't take her eyes of the scene. It felt almost like a déjà vu, like she had seen this before, and she might as well have a long forgotten memory of Summer holding Ruby like that. Bittersweet memories dancing before her eyes again, heart clenching with the weight of the past.

\- "Aww did you wakey from your nap? How's my baby girl doing? Mommy's gotta go for a few hours and she'll be back, don't worry, grandpa's gonna take care of you." At the last part, Yang couldn't help but feel a bit sad, trying to hide it in her voice mixed with some humor, she asked: "You know I can take care of my niece, right? Dad's probably tired and I think he needs more time to rest his back, he never did recover well from the war."

Ruby looked at her with dubious eyes, she could never hide her emotions well from her.

\- "Yeeeaaaah, I don't know sis, I think you're probably more tired than him, what with your trip and all. Besides it won't be long." She tried to end it with a smile but Yang could see right through it.

She couldn't help to feel left out at this point, she left a defeated sigh from her lips while she raised her left hand to the back of her head, feeling unruly curls beneath her fingertips and all sorts of thoughts even deeper inside. She thought about keeping them in, but if the war taught her anything, don't bottle up your feelings… at least not much.

-"You know, you could just say no. You don't have to lie to me. I can see you don't want me to take care of my baby niece and that's your call but could you at least tell me why?". At the last word, her voice turned a bit squeaky.

Ruby shifted her stance, adjusting the little rose on her arms, and looking at her sister with a troubled look.

\- "Yang, I'm not…"

\- "Is it because the arm? I can take it off if you want, I was thinking it might be too cold for her. And I could see if you thought it might harm her, I've had trouble with this model and it snags sometimes on my hair."- Before Ruby could respond, Yang kept on barreling through. "Or do you fear I might react badly if she pulls my hair? I swear I would give my other arm if the thought of harming her would even cross my head. Or is it because of my semblance? I don't know the nature of her aura yet but I doubt it could cause any damage, I mean I never had any trouble with yours or Weiss' before. Or…" Word after word, her voice kept on raising a decibel, growing a bit more frantic too but without shouting, a bit of desperation coloring her phrasing. Ruby couldn't help but gape at her, the little rose bud following her rapid movements avidly. The older Rose at a loss of how to stop her sister. "… Is it because you feel I can't take care of her? I know I've been away and I probably let you down and I'm so sorry I couldn't be there for you guys, I just…!"

Whatever it was she was going to say, never came, for the tiniest hand made it into her gaze and was demanding her attention. A little sound came from the little girl that was still in her mother's arms, her small hand trying to reach her. It was enough to stop her rant and fill her eyes with tears.

\- "Yang, I don't know where all that came from, but I want you to hold your niece and listen to me carefully as your sister and if that's not enough, as your former leader". As she said so, a tiny little rose was deposited on Yang's surprised arms, barely containing her emotions and struggling to appear normal to the little girl now reaching for her nose.

\- "I came here to visit dad so you would take a breather, I knew that was the only way to keep you away from all those missions you do. The long ones that pay great but leave you without time for anything. I know you are trying to block all thoughts and feelings about certain people but I don't want to lose you or my baby girl to lose her aunt in battle. Don't you DARE interrupt me!"- Yang tried to get a word in between but wisely shut up at her sister's commanding tone, the little girl now playing with her blonde locks.

\- "I don't fault you for being away, It's the life we chose. I will go back to it eventually too; we all have jobs to do. Don't feel guilty for it! If it's not me, Weiss is there to help when she's not working hard to help shape the new world. The world you also saved despite what some stupid people used to say about you. The same people I defended you from. I would never think that you could harm my baby or any baby for that matter. You would throw yourself to the fire if it meant she would be fine. So don't give me that shit, Xiao Long; yes, I did use your last name so It can get through your stubborn dragon head!"

As she said that, her little girl patted Yang on the cheek. Her tiny hand barely even hurting her, but her sister's words cut through her like butter. Was it true all that she said? Had she really been overdoing her work? She didn't worry about what she could do?

\- "You mean… You trust me to take care of her? If that's so then why are you leaving her in dad's care?"- A little sadness clung to her words, uncertain once again of Ruby's speech. The silver eyes warrior looking down and sighing deeply.

\- "You raised me for almost half of my life Yang, that's why." Yang's eyes grew confused, at that, Ruby raised a hand to assure her. "It's not what you think dummy. You raised me to the best of your abilities, you were so young and you didn't have to. But you did and I don't think I've ever thanked you for that." – At this confession Yang couldn't help but feel the guiltiness rolling off her sister in waves; even her baby niece stopped playing and turned around at the sound of her mother's words. Even with her eyes casted downwards she could sense the tears in them. She wanted to comfort her somehow but her arms were literally full and she knew she had more things to say.

\- "I'm the reason you are so stupidly selfless and I worry about you when you're away, so soooo much. And I know that you've been using that arm again after so long of just being a one-handed badass because you fear you might not hold her properly the same amount you fear rejection from her because of it. But look at her!"- At this she focused on the tiny human in her arms, she was completely at ease. Even if she had only met her aunt three times on her lifetime. She hadn't even noticed it, but the tiny girl had one hand resting on her chest and the other was feeling the metal of her prosthetic that was holding her legs against her.

\- "I put her on your arms, and she's totally fine about it. I wanted you to relax on this trip, and you've already been too much of a mother for someone who is almost 25, so please sis. Don't take it personal because it isn't. Thank you for offering, but tonight I want you to rest."

Yang couldn't help but let a small weary sigh leave her lips as she took it all in. Her head nodding slightly; as she looked back to her sister she could only see sincerity and love in the eyes she had seen progress from those of a small innocent toddler to the ones of a full-fledged warrior. One of the saviors of Remnant and the mother of the child resting comfortably on her chest. Soon enough, her father made his appearance at the door.

\- "Hey Ruby, your transport is here already. Weiss must really need you! The pilot was almost in tears begging me to call you as quickly as possible."

Blushing quite a bit and reminded that she was needed elsewhere, the brunette quickly kissed her father's cheek in goodbye before turning to her daughter. It seemed that being of Yang's warm embrace was lolling the 5 months old baby back to dreamland, so Ruby said bye very softly, kissing the crown of her baby girl's head. Making eye contact with her older sister, she got on her tippy toes and (careful not to disturb her daughter) kissed her forehead like she used to do shortly after waking up from Beacon's fall, as a signal of deep love for her.

As Ruby left from the room and promptly used her semblance outside to reach her transport and leave, Yang realized her little sister was right. She had been overthinking it and made things worse by assuming her sister was scared for her daughter in Yang's care. She casted her eyes down to the baby on resting on her chest, and couldn't help the tears that rolled down her cheeks, silently marking her face and reaching her chin. She would do anything in the world to ensure her baby niece lived a happy and safe live; and she promised one more thing. She would make sure that she would live long enough to see her have a baby of her own. No more extra dangerous missions for a long while.

\- "Sorry to interrupt the moment, but your sister did whisper to me to make sure you got rest tonight soooo. May I?"- Extending his arms towards her, Taiyang made it into her vision back again. So Yang nodded and with little effort, passed the little girl to the arms of her grandpa; taking a second to dry her tears with her sleeve.

\- "I did walk all the way from the port so, yeah…'m gonna lay down for a bit. Don't worry though, I'll be back and ready to play with my little rosebud in a few hours so don't hog her all to yourself, dad."- Noticing the honest smile on her face, Taiyang nodded at her to get going.

\- "Go on then, my little dragon. It's good to have you back"- Stopping at the door and turning slightly, Yang said: "I'm glad to be, daddy."

And with that, Yang left two of the people she loved the most in her childhood room and went to another that that had been hers for a small while. The room across the aisle, the room for visits…. Her rehab room.

She closed the door slowly behind her and allowed herself to sag against the door. Truth to be told, she was really exhausted… so much that when she remembered her things were downstairs she groaned loudly in response. She chose to throw herself at the bed, collapsing with all her clothes and boots still on. She was gonna close her eyes then and there, until she remembered something. Sitting up a bit, she wriggled off her duster's right sleeve. Underneath was the weeks old metal prosthetic, still shining brightly and without any signs of battle damage. She looked at it for a bit and decided to take it off to sleep; with a bit of effort, she pressed the mechanisms that de-attach it from her stump and finally placed it above the desk next to the bed.

Turning to lay on her back, she was ready to sleep and relax. Except she felt the pressure of her scroll in her pocket and remembered to do one more thing.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Weiss Schnee was pacing madly at the front gates of the meeting hall, waiting for Ruby to arrive, when her scroll went off. She was already clutching it in her left hand, ready to make some calls to make more time if Ruby took longer to arrive than expected. Surely the stern talk she had with the pilot would have been enough, right?

When she saw the message was from the Dragon Huntress she couldn't help but pause for a bit. They hadn't talked in months! Yang being god knows where in Remnant battling Grim and avoiding the public eye for a bit. Even Blake wrote her more frequently and she wasn't related to her by law!

When she opened the text, she was at a loss of words.

 _Hey Weiss! How's it going? Tell me, have I ever told you that you have really beautiful eyes? ;D_

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 **I hope you liked it. If you like Whiterose, there you go ;) There might be a few more stories i'd like to tell about this fic but I'm unsure if I should. Please let me know if you liked it in any way or if there was something wrong. All constructive criticism is welcome :) Also, in case you didn't get it. Yang wasn't talking about Weiss' eyes in particular, just the color of them ;) because the baby has Weiss' eyes :v If you have any questions (perhaps what goes on in the life of the other members of team rwby :v), please tell me and they might be solved in another chapter. maybe. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello! Thank you so much for the favs and follows. I've decided there was more to tell in this story, so you can have some celebratory Weiss for it :D Please remember to leave a review to let me know how am i doing or if there's some grammar error or whatever you feel like leaving. It makes me more excited to write this story if you do. Hope you enjoy!**

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Weiss Schnee had changed throughout the years. Surely, all people in the world do change with time, but when you are part of the small group of warriors that made sure the world changed for the better, you are sort of forced to do so as well. She had accomplished a lot already; took back the company from the clutches of her father, started building real honest trust towards the Schnee name, worked alongside the Chieftess of Menagerie and other business associates to promote just and friendly work conditions for Faunus. Working each day to lessen the divide between the humans and the Faunus and fixing all the wrongs her father did, and still manage to spend more time with her family. Or she would, if things hadn't taken a wrong turn in the last 3 days.

The once almost destroyed Kingdom of Vale was still undergoing reparations by a capable group of workers while another group tried their best to build more defenses around the perimeter, being heavily protected by a bigger group of Huntsmen, Huntresses and some of Weiss' own guard. She didn't need them at the moment, being at a secure location and being one of the best huntresses of her generation (with plenty of aura to summon a goliath or two if the need arose); but, as luck would have it, she had a disagreement with two of the new material suppliers for a very specific part of the renovations. Turns out these new arrivals from Anima had only dealt with her progenitor in the past and were unaware of her hard work to change the company.

She was at her limit when they got extra difficult at the third meeting, saying unsavory things about the old dealings of the SDC, the many shady work her father had done to screw them over and another plethora of words that said how much they trusted her to do right by the Kingdom and the work they were doing. No matter what she said, or what she had achieved as a Huntress, she just couldn't convince the Anima based suppliers and she was running out of time for what seemed to be the last meeting with these much needed suppliers. It wasn't until the holo-projector in the room that was paired with her scroll made a ding signaling an incoming call and Ruby's smiling face appeared on the screen that the men almost jumped from their seats and as quickly as possible asked her if she knew the person in the screen. Completely caught off guard, she could only reply an affirmation when the two men said they would like to have her in the meeting as soon as possible, since they had dealt with her in the past and would like to know her opinion on the matter before they decided to agree or not to Weiss' terms of business.

The next thing she knew, she had excused herself for the meeting to answer the call in the privacy of the hall outside of the room, practically begged Ruby to come to the meeting as soon as she answered, called one of her private pilots and sternly told her to get to Patch in 5 minutes or else. She might have forgotten to add "or else I'll be forced to make some calls and stall the conclusion of the meeting another extra day.". Which would explain the shaky "Yes Ma'am." She got from her pilot. To make matters worse, she had received a very confusing text that would surely cause her more headaches on top of the ones she had been having for the last three days.

Flabbergasted by what she had read before; she hadn't heard the many opening of doors that led to the small hall she was waiting in. It wasn't until she saw a red clad figure made her way to her that she realized her former partner had arrived. She looked a little out of breath; a lonely red petal making its way to the ground behind her, let her know that Ruby had used her semblance to make it as quickly as possible. Feeling her nerves calming down by the seconds, Weiss quickly hugged the silver eyed warrior as she tiredly managed to speak.

\- "Oh thank god you made it! You have no idea what the meeting of today has been! Where's Blau?". As she said that, she felt Ruby's arms encircle her as well. Lifting her spirits with such a simple gesture and filling her with warmth.

\- "She's with dad. Also, don't worry about it. I can only imagine what it must have been for you, Weiss. But, as much as I love your hugs, I think you need me to speak to some guys?"- Reluctantly, the white haired woman let her go from the hug; putting both hands behind her back, regaining her composure to get back into the meeting.

\- "Right, thank you for reminding me."- After nodding slightly at Weiss, Ruby directed her eyes towards the doors before them, taking a few steps forward, she suddenly felt a tug at her sleeve. Looking back at the CEO of the SDC with curiosity, she noticed that Weiss had swiftly approached her before she was swept off her feet with what could only be described as a searing kiss that could paralyze your train of thought in a second. Responding in kind, she poured all her love into it. A few seconds later, they had to break the kiss to regain their oxygen. After all these years, their emotions were still as strong, if not stronger.

-"They don't know you are my wife, so I wanted to do that before we get inside."-With her forehead pressed against Ruby's own, Weiss let a small sigh leave her lips.-"You know I love you with all my heart and would scream it from the northern glaciers of Atlas to the Southern deserts of Menagerie, but they will only approve the transaction if the third party they hold with respect vouches for my intentions without any conflict of interests and…"- Blue eyes opened wide when she felt the mother of her child silence her with a second kiss, more tame in nature.

\- "Weiss, don't worry. I get it. I'll talk with them, make them sign and we can go back to Patch together this night. I believe it's been too much work for you and you need a few days to relax. I'm sure Blau will be so happy you're the one singing her lullaby tonight and not me."- Feeling her heart constrict with love for her little family of three, Weiss took her wife's hands on her own and kissed them slowly.

\- "I will never know what I did to deserve you, but I'm happy you tripped on my suitcases; you lovable klutz."- Giggling slightly, they let go of each other and resumed their positions before their little moment. Taking a deep breath, Ruby opened the doors to the meeting and strode in with confidence.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

It wasn't until 2 hours later that she got to take a seat in her fastest transport, next to her wife, that Weiss got to finally relax from the added stress of discussing for 3 whole days all the things wrong with the SDC before she took the company. She could feel all the tension in her head and the pain of her past giving her glimpses of all the times she could have opposed her father but didn't out of fear. But it was Ruby's hand in her own that grounded her back to the present.

\- "So, now that that thing was solved. Can I know why was the pilot about to cry when she picked me up?"

\- "Oh right, I may have misworded something I said to her. Excuse me for a second, will you?"- At Ruby's nod, the scarred woman pressed a button on the arm rest of her seat. A beep was heard before a shaky voice was heard.

\- "Yes Ma'am, what can I do for you? I'm sorry to inform you that this is as fast as I can fly you back to Patch, unfortunately."

\- "Adler, don't worry. I just wanted to let you know that you have been doing great work so far. It's thanks to your piloting skills that Ruby got to Vale in time to close a very important deal for the people and the Kingdom. I'll be sure to tell my good friend Blake Belladonna to let your family know what you've accomplished today. I'm sure they miss you in Menagerie, so don't hesitate to ask for your paid vacations anytime this year, got it?"- A slight choked sound was heard at the other side of the speakers, before the pilot answered back.

\- "Thank you Ma'am. You're very kind to say so. We'll be arriving in three minutes. If that is all, Adler over and out."

Feeling content with the answer, Weiss turned to look at Ruby. She could see a small smile of adoration etched on her face.

\- "You have a big heart for being such a small lady". - With a little huff, and blushing red, Weiss looked down to her knees.

\- "You are not so big yourself, you know? Oh, talking about big hearts. Wasn't Yang supposed to get to Patch today?"- Mildly interested, Ruby raised an eyebrow in concern.

-"Yeeeahh? Why?"- With a little hesitation and grabbing her wife's hand a bit more tightly, the CEO said.

\- "It's just, I got a weird text from her before you got to the reunion. Something flirty about my eyes. I get that she used to be that way before the Fall, but considering she's now my in-law I find it inappropriate to say such things, you know?"- A bit confused, Ruby asked Weiss to be more specific about the text, to which she took her scroll in hand and showed it to her.

\- "Weiss, you realize she's probably joking, right? She did properly see Blau's eyes today. I imagine that's the reason why she would say that."- With a little giggle, she gave the scroll back to Weiss.

\- "Hmm… that actually makes more sense. It was just so unexpected; you know? We haven't talked in months! Last I talked with her she was somewhere in Vacuo. I know we weren't the closest members of team RWBY but for the sake of friendship, I wish she communicated more often, you know? To let us know she's doing ok wherever she's roaming now."

\- "No I get it. I just spoke to her about it today. Hopefully she'll do as I say and stop being such a dummy about it."- Weiss took that moment to look at her entwined hands. The silver bands on their fingers shining brightly reflecting the lights from the cabin. Taking a moment to compose her thoughts, she spoke again.

\- "Loneliness is one thing, but Isolating yourself on purpose… I don't think anyone can handle it for long. I would know that."- Old sad and painful memories crept back to her, like a movie reel on a holo-projector making her frown deeply, until she felt Ruby's free hand on her chin, directing her to look at her.

\- "Hey, come back to me. You're free of that now. You have us with you. Blau and me, forever, remember?"- As she said that, the hand on her cheek travelled to the necklace resting on Weiss' clavicles. A blue rose, no doubt a Sapphire, and a red one side by side. Weiss' eyes got teary, putting her hand on Ruby's, she said:

\- "I know, and somedays it feels too perfect to be real. I have not been this happy in my entire life, and you are the reason this was possible."- Kissing her again, she didn't even notice they had arrived.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

-"She's so perfect. I still can't believe it; you know?"

Having arrived just in time before the little rosebud had started crying with her powerful lungs, no doubt courtesy of Weiss' genes, Ruby was now breastfeeding her daughter in her old room. Taiyang had been a bit surprised to see the CEO arrive with his daughter but soon gave her the mandatory crushing Xiao Long hug that she had to get used to years ago when she met the man.

They had pushed both beds in the room together, and Ruby had lent her wife some of the clothes she brought for her stay in Patch. Weiss was just looking at them with all the love she could muster in her eyes.

\- "To be honest, I'm just glad she got your eyes. I don't think I could handle it well if she was suddenly in danger because she got my silver ones."- Sensing a bit of worry from Ruby, Weiss inched a bit closer and kissed her temple softly.

\- "Either way, She'll be amazing one day. Whatever she chooses to be, I'll be there to support her, no matter what she desires."

\- "I have no doubts Weiss; I know you will."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A few hours later, Weiss was still awake. As much as she tried to relax, she couldn't. No matter that Ruby and her daughter were sleeping peacefully, there was something nagging at her in her head.

Opening up her scroll and setting the brightness to low, she started distracting herself with the applications. Until she remembered the earlier message she hadn't responded to yet.

She worried about Yang. She knew the reason why they didn't talk as much as the other members of her former team, and she could read said reason if she scrolled down a bit on her message list. One Blake Belladonna was listed there. She spoke more with her on a weekly basis than with Yang in the last year.

Sighing slightly, she chose that moment to reply to her message.

I know you are not really flirting with me Yang, so the joke is on you. But I need to ask…You haven't told me anything in months. Is everything ok between us?

After the Fall of Beacon, they had been the first ones to reunite. After months of being tortured by their own demons, they had found each other first. Relayed on each other to brave the waves of grim that kept on multiplying each step of the way. Yang had confessed to her about her nightmares, and how she sometimes still saw the culprit for her missing arm in there. Weiss had told her all the truth about her terrible father and they had truly bonded about their own loneliness. So it mattered greatly to her, that the one who had confided in her during her darkest moments was closing herself to the others. Specially to the team mate that was currently all the way across the continent in Menagerie.

Suddenly, there was a soft beep signaling an incoming message.

 _Eaasy there Weissy, I was just joking around. My baby niece is adorable, has beautiful eyes and I have to thank you for it. Thanks :)_

She's adorable but only because her other mother is too. Anyways you're evading the question.

 _Awww, you guys are so sweet. Anyweiss…_ At this, CEO couldn't help but groan slightly.

… _yes, we are fine. I've been busy it's all. There are way less Grim than back then, but there are still high profile Huntsmen and Huntresses needed, so yeah. I've been all over the place because of that._

Are you sure that's the only reason? Weiss saw the need to pressure more to get the answer she needed.

 _What do you mean?_

I'm asking if you have talked with Blake recently.

At that, Weis couldn't help but wince slightly. The question might have been too direct. A few minutes passed without answer and Weiss was starting to fidget for a bit until there was another beep

 _I think you would know, right? You guys talk a lot, don't you?_

And there it was, that was the opening the white haired huntress had been waiting for.

We do talk a lot. We are working together to fix the Human-Faunus relations. If you sum that to the casual friendly conversation: Yes, we do talk a lot.

Feeling her throat dry with anxiety, she decided to go downstairs while she waited for an answer. She took care to not wake either member of her family and slipped out the door.

As she approached the kitchen, she realized the light was on. Peering behind the wall, she saw Yang sitting at the kitchen table. She looked about the same she had seen her months ago, if not for the sense of exhaustion she got from her. She was texting on her scroll with her left hand, her head was resting on the table along with her metal covered stump, her tongue out in concentration. Soon enough though, Yang noticed the arrival at the kitchen.

\- "You should have told me you were here, woulda saved me a lot of typing time, you know? Kinda hard with one arm, I'm sorta regretting not putting it on before coming downstairs."

The lack of bear hug was proof enough that something was bothering Yang enough to not greet her properly. Sighing deeply, Weiss went towards the cup cabinet.

\- "When I wrote to you I didn't think you'd answer back instantly. Also hello Yang, I'm fine, thanks for asking.". Retrieving a glass, Weiss made her way to the refrigerator.

\- "Geez Ice queen, take it easy with the frost."

\- "I know you are stalling Yang. If you don't want to talk about Blake, fine. Just say so and we can move on from this topic." A pause was heard as Weiss poured herself some water from the bottle in the fridge. When she was done, she turned around to see Yang looking intently at the wooden table. With a stiff voice, she said:

\- "I'd rather we didn't talk about her, please." Weighting her options, Weiss decided to nod slightly and take a seat opposite of the fiery fighter.

\- "Just so you know, I have no idea why you have been taking all those missions. And before you even attempt to say it Xiao Long, I know that it's not a thrill seeker thing. All I can think about goes back to one person, and that person, as much as she talks to me, has not said a thing about this situation nor have I asked for that matter." Taking a pause to sip at her glass, Weiss noted that Yang was looking at her with a bit of guiltiness. Something she was used to seeing in those lilac eyes ever since she opened up to her back when they reunited.

\- "Which is why I was asking you. You might still call me Ice Queen, but you know I care a lot about the people I trust with my life. You are such person and not only my friend or teammate, but my sister in-law. We are related now; you are the woman that raised my wife to be the amazing person she is today while still being a kid, so you know that I'll be there for you even when you turn me away." Through all her speech, Yang only managed to make herself look smaller; showing the vulnerable side of her that was buried under jokes, flirtation and putting a big smile on her face. Weiss knew her better than that though. Still, the little voice in with she answered her took her by surprise.

\- "Thank you Weiss. It's just… This is something between us two. It took so long for us to go back to some semblance of normality after reuniting all the team….and then… things just fell down the cracks, you know? I won't get into details but…We… had a conversation after the Salem trials where that bastard said the truth about me. She needed to do some things…. Fix some stuff. And for that, it was best for all if we just… took some time on our own."

Absentmindedly taking her stump in her left hand, Yang carried on.

\- "I never thought it would take that much time. I just…. Was back at square 0 in an instant. Bad things I thought I had fought and won were back to haunt me right at the corner of the street. I was useless again, I couldn't go back to that so I decided to distract myself the only way I know how. And after talking with my sis today… I realized that it has been damaging more than I thought. I've only seen my niece three times and she's already 5 months old. I'm not good for anyone if I end up dead overworking myself just so I can stop thinking about…her." At this, Weiss extended her hand towards her in a way to stop her.

\- "Yang, this is not about if you're useful for anyone or not. We are worried for YOUR life, get it? We love you and thus we worry a lot. I know you better than you think, your need to stop blaming yourself for anything that happens. I don't know why she might be acting this way towards you, but she has managed as much if not more than me after the war ended. It's not like she's been dormant, doing nothing. So I'm positive that things will work out in the end. You just have to believe in it.". A small snicker escaped Yang's lips, closing her eyes and smirking at her direction, she said:

-"She needed me away from her life so she could do some good. You'd think I would be used to be the hindrance in someone's life by now. But, thank you for looking out for me Weiss. You truly are like a second sister to me. No need to have blood ties to be family. That's one of the first lessons I learned while growing up." Opening her eyes, there were tears pooling at the corners. Weiss blinked back at her and she noticed there was some of those in her eyes too. The Dragon Huntress stood up with some effort and strode right towards her.

-"Could you stand up please? My back is still killing me after all these years." A bit dubious, Weiss said before standing up:

-"You did ask to be launched with my fastest glyph that one time, you can't complain so much." Taking a step to the side, she was fully standing now, curious about the request. Out of the blue, Yang encircled her in the biggest hug she could manage one armed and without breaking her ribs.

-"It's good to have you home, sis."- Closing her eyes, and hugging her back, the CEO answered.

-"You too, sister. You too."

* * *

 **I realize that i love writing Weiss for some reason. I hope I did her justice. I also realized that Yang and Weiss have the power to break each others barriers and just cut the bullshit straight to the point. I love that about friendships. Anyways, there are plans for 2 more chapter, but we'll see if i write more than that ;) please let me know how you like the pace, the characters; if i'm doing it right or anything that might be bothering you. Feedback is much appreaciated. Thanks for reading :)**

 **EDIT: forgot to add two things:**

 **1.- Blau is german for Blue; she got that name for her blue eyes. So far her name is Blau Rose-Schnee but she can choose whatever last name she decides to stick with. Some play with genetics it's how they managed to have her; which plays nicely with her name since the only Blue roses in existence had to be artificially created, just like her :)**

 **2.- The name of the pilot is german for Eagle, and yes, you guessed it... she's an eagle faunus. She has a feathered tail and amazing eyesight.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello! Happy belated holidays! I hope you are enjoying this fic. Please let me know in a review if I'm doing well ;) I'm sorry it took longer to upload this. Also, good news? this fic might be longer than i anticipated, you'll learn why soon though :) enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

People take for granted the choice of sleep. Most people cut theirs short in order to enjoy longer hours of whatever it is their sacrificing it for. Others have no choice in the matter; being awake is the only way of survival. For one Blake Belladonna however, is a lesson learnt in self-control, being responsible for those she cares, and a bittersweet memory. No matter how much she might feel she needs to work harder for her people, sleep is something she must do at a regular frequency; every day of every week. So when a loud DING interrupted her rest, a rivalling loud groan left her lips in protest.

Buried in her sheets, there she was. Her ears twitching irritably at the noise, yukata in place and a slow and tired hand pawing at the demanding object. She found it and brought it next to her face; a golden eye cracked open mid-way to peer at what she now recognized as her scroll.

One new message from Weiss, it read. Also, it was 8 am in the morning and not as early as she thought. She sighed loudly and turned on her back to better read Weiss' message. This could be very important and might need her full focus on the matter. Normally she would leave her bed and just make herself some tea before attending any other matters, but as it happens, the message coming from Weiss meant two things: it was the early call of duty, or it was one of her closest (in a manner of speaking) friends just making casual conversation. Years ago it would be right to assume it was a work call 70 percent of the time, but nowadays, it was a 50 percent chance, since Weiss likes to talk about her darling daughter and keep her posted on the amazing things she has being doing for the last few months.

Thinking about her friends' child brought another wave of unwanted feelings, and being too early for that torture, she focused back on the message. It was a log one; very typical of Weiss actually.

Good Morning Blake. How have you been? I write to you today to inform you on the latest news from Vale. First of all, I would be very grateful if you could let the Kirkas family know that Miss Adler Kirkas has been doing exemplary work on my private air force. She just helped the Kingdom of Vale by letting us close a lost deal for the benefit of the people of Vale. She will be back anytime soon to let them know herself, whenever she asks for her paid leave. If she ever desires to pursue her craft in any other air company, I will gladly write a long letter of recommendation for her. Speaking of which; Ruby was the key person to close said deal. I can't blame the suppliers for trusting someone they already know rather than the company they hate by default (my… father's dealings with them in the past was the reason of the situation scaling as it did, unfortunately). Vale is looking better now, we are working extra hard to make it safer by the day.

I also participated in a good hunt a few weeks ago. A Goliath was seen roaming somewhere South of Vale, with a few Ursi following its lead. Naturally, I took the new huntsmen and huntresses in training with me. I taught the rookies a thing of two about making swift decisions on the spot to best take them down. I have been told they are rather fond of me now but I have yet to see if it is indeed true. The Vale council has not issued any advances regarding re-constructing Beacon Academy, but have granted special permits to Elite Huntresses and Huntsmen to take the graduated students of the combat schools to teach them in the field. I think you would like mine. There's a quiet girl that reminds me a bit of you; always carrying a book with her.

The shipment of dust was sent a few days ago, it should be arriving on time today. This batch should last more than the last one; I made sure to include a few extra crates for the extra crates of produce you sent the last time.

I would like to know any advances on your front; I think we are taking the right steps on lessening the divide, Blake. But if you see, hear or know about any discontent, do let me know so I can correct any issue. This is the last part of the message as Weiss Schnee, the Elite Huntress, SDC's CEO and Vale's Mediator.

Weiss did like to be overly formal when talking about their conjoined responsibilities, but she always did write when she would stop talking about that and start talking friend to friend with Blake.

Now that that it's out of the way… Blake Belladonna! When are you going to visit us? My little rosebud deserves to know you before she starts running all over our house, and you know she will if she's anything like Ruby. My wife has been telling me to let you know that you are, and I quote: a "liar liar with your pants on fire". You said you would take a few days off from Menagerie before Blau was even born, and she's already a handful of 5 months, Blake.

As a woman with responsibilities in different aspects of life I understand your need to remain where you are, but please, do try to make it here anytime soon. Also, there is something I need to talk to you about. Whenever you can, please write me back. We miss you! Take care!

She had a feeling a few weeks ago that the whole "why haven't you visited yet" speech would come her way again sooner than later, and she couldn't fault Weiss for it, of course. It wasn't that she didn't want to do it. She did! It's just that she had to do right by her people and couldn't really take a break of it. Really… what kind of Chieftess would do that?

It was then when she heard the familiar sound of three soft knocks on her door. Blake sat on her bed and put the scroll back where she took if from.

\- "Come in! I'm already awake."- Her door opened and in came her mother. Even after all the years that passed after the war, she looked more or less the same. Only a bright smile adorned her features more often.

\- "Good Morning Blake! How did you sleep?".

\- "It was more than enough, but I did get a message a bit more earlier than anticipated."- Her mother giggled at that, covering her mouth with her hand.

\- "Let me guess, your friend the good Schnee?"- At Blake's glare and pout, she corrected herself. - "I'm joking, dear. Your friend Weiss is a good person. It's just a bit difficult to forget what her father did to the world and to her family name."

\- "Well, the difficulty of people forgiving and moving forward is one of the reasons why we are working so hard to make the world a better place." A deep sigh left her as her ears swiveled down a little.

\- "I thought that we could move this faster when my dad gave me the position of leader of Menagerie. That I could convince our people that we can work together with the humans, that we can move forward as equals… but is taking more time than what I anticipated. Even if the White Fang is only a bad memory now… is not that easy."

She felt the bed dip as her mother sat next to her on her bed. She put a hand on her head and brought her to rest on her shoulder.

\- "You and your friend have achieved more than Ghira and I did back when we first funded the White Fang as bridge of peace between our people. You should not feel bad for it, Blake. We are proud of our baby girl. You managed to solidify a program that sends Faunus to the other continents, to trusted people that will treat them fair and send good examples to the others fearful of leaving this place. We have better communications now and there are more treaties of commerce between the kingdoms and us. We even have secured more areas for living since your treaty with the SDC. People are slowly but surely starting to trust more and that's a great thing. It will take time, for sure; but I believe it won't be that long."- Her mother assured her while stroking the base of her ears slightly. A content sigh mixed with a small purr was heard from Blake.

\- "Thank you, mom."- Kali Belladonna let her hand fell from her daughter's head and gave her a small nod of understanding. She stood up and started making her way out of the room, talking about breakfast.

\- "Mom?"- the older Faunus turned around, facing her daughter as she was almost reaching for the handle of the door.

\- "Yes dear?"- Blake looked her in the eye for a second before breaking contact. She looked briefly where her scroll rested at.

\- "Do you think that…"- there was something that Blake wanted to ask, but for a reason, the words wouldn't come out. - "… actually, don't worry about it. If you see Yana could you tell her to wait for me at the port? I need to oversee the arrival of dust for the machinery; Weiss sent it a few days ago."

\- "Sure thing, Chieftess."

\- "MOM!"- A big smile appeared on Kali's face. Her daughter didn't like to be teased, but she couldn't help it.

\- "I'm just kidding. I will tell her though, don't worry."

Being alone in her room again, Blake threw her head back on her pillow and let a deep sigh out. She couldn't help but feel like there was much work to do before she could even dream of leaving Menagerie, no matter how short the trip. She really missed her old team, but she couldn't just leave everyone hanging. - "Heh. It's not like you've done that before, Blake."- she said to herself. She had left someone hanging, someone she couldn't allow herself to think about. It was better for Her, better for everyone, right? She had managed to do a lot already. It would be only a matter of time before…. Before what? It had been years since they saw each other last. She didn't know anything about her, how was she doing or anything. Blake never asked Weiss, and the few conversations she managed with Ruby, she avoided asking for her, scared of what she might tell her.

Shaking herself off her thoughts, the Chieftess of Menagerie started her day.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

\- "So that makes about 150 crates of dust in total, Chief. Miss Schnee added 10 extra crates, like you said she might. This will definitely help us build more structures in the northwest sector."

-"Thank you, Yana. Make sure every crate goes to the right place, and let the workers know that there won't be a need to pause the projects. We are back in session."- Blake stood in the port, looking at the Schnee ships being looked on for maintenance before filling them up with the produce of Menagerie: an assortment of tropical fruits, wood and minerals than can only be found in the island. Next to her stood Yana Cuy, some sort of rodent faunus with very small ears covered in ink black fur that contrasted a bit at the center of her head with her brown hair and tanned skin; her right hand, assistant and trusted friend. Dumb Stereotypes aside, they worked very well together and done so since her father named her Chieftess. Since it was a mouthful to say her whole tittle every time, she had told Yana to just call her Chief, instead of Grace or any other honorific.

\- "I must say, Chief, not even in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would see Schnee products arriving our way. And we get extra ones! This is truly something!" – A small smile made her way into Blake's face.

\- "Thank you. I wish I could say this has nothing to do with me being friends with the CEO, but I can rest easy knowing that if there's anyone in this world than can respect a contract, is definitely Weiss. So we would still be getting 140 crates anyway. Friends or not."- the rodent faunus laughed softly.

\- "After all I've seen from her, I can't help but agree with you, Chief. Is nice knowing the new CEO is a decent human."- At that, Blake's face switched from content to thoughtful. Worried, Yana asked:

\- "Did I say something wrong, Chief?"

\- "No, it's not that. Yana… can I ask you something?"- Little furry black ears twitched slightly at the question. Scrunching her nose for a second, Yana nodded.

\- "What would you think of humans coming to Menagerie?"- Yana's black eyes widened, Blake couldn't help but flinch a tiny bit at her reaction.

\- "Uhh… what?"

\- "Well, we started this with a program that sends our people to the other continents, but… to this day, there hasn't been a human stepping into the island. But what if it did? Tourism could be a good thing for our economy. Or maybe even employment of some sort. It's just something that occurred to me some time ago, but I don't know if our people is ready to open the door to better the relationships. And I understand completely why, I haven't forgotten what has been done to us… but this could be a really good chance to move forward."-throughout the whole speech, Yana had been staring at her, mouth opened and slightly scrunching her nose at random intervals

\- "So, since I trust your judgement, I would like to know what do you think of that possibility."

\- "Chief I… I don't know what to say right now. I don't think I've even considered that a thing that could happen…."- with a sigh, Blake closed her eyes and said:

\- "Well, It's just an idea… If you do give it some thought, I'll be ready to hear it."

\- "Yes Chief, I will think about it."- The cat Faunus nodded at her with a small grateful smile.

-"Ok, let's move on. I need to go visit the Kirkas family… I have great news about their daughter.".

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

If there was something that was never missing in the Belladonna's table, it was Tuna. Fry, raw, cooked, whichever way it could be prepared, it didn't matter… there was always Tuna at hand. Which was a great thing for Blake, she always had her favorite meat waiting for her after a long day of work in the island. She was currently chatting with her mother about the proceedings of her day, when the heavy footsteps of her father could be heard near them.

-"Ghira? Is that you dear?"- The large frame of the former Chieftain of Menagerie entered their vision. He was dressed in his scouting outfit; a long purple scarf covered his head except for his eyes, his shoulder armor was replaced with leather ones and he had a few layers of clothing on beneath it all, to keep cool in the desert.

\- "Kali! Blake! You wouldn't believe what our scouting party found!"- Both women stood up to greet Ghira, Blake giving him a big hug.

\- "We thought you would be away longer dad, what happened?"- Ghira took off his scarf, revealing his black beard, with a few white hairs on it, but his playful smile and fun eyes were the same.

-"I thought the same! But we made a discovery; you remember the rock desert just south of the Dry lands?"- Both faunus nodded their heads. - "Well, it doesn't extend as long as we thought. Luckily for us, the Deathstalkers, Sandreptus and Dwarf Taijitus were less active this time and we only had to fought a few of them and… we managed to get to the other side."

\- "Ghira! You crossed the rock desert!?"

\- "DAD!"

The large man flinched at the reaction of his family, a sheepish smile making it across his features.

-"Come on girls! It wasn't that dangerous, I swear! There were no injured in this trip, I promise! Anyways! We managed to cross, there was another stretch of dunes, but! The weather felt different, more like this side of the island, and as far as we could see, there was something else that was like this place. We saw more green lands."- At that revelation, both set of golden eyes widened. Crossing the rock desert was something that hadn't been done before, since the desperation and turmoil of finding rocky grounds as far as the eye could see only attracted more and more grim. But… finding more green lands?

\- "Dad, are you sure it wasn't a mirage?"

\- "I'm sure, it's not like we only looked and turned back. I used one of your friend's toys. I left it in the hall, you can check the footage for yourselves if you want to be sure."

Weiss had sent more than dust crates their way before. The Schnee branch of dust inventions allied with the military of Atlas was still a thing, only Weiss demanded to have some of the mechanics and others from her employment to work with the technologies the Army had at its disposal and let her decide where to sell her equipment. One such thing was the Desert Scout 2.0; it was a small machine with wide wheels, mechanical claws, camera feed and other assortment of things. Powered by Schnee dust of course. Blake had bought 2 for Menagerie, but Weiss had sent an extra one as an apology for taking so long to ship them her way due to some small legal details.

It could be sent by radio control, autopilot and other ways, to keep the people from traveling long distances in the desert, but Ghira didn't do things halfway and made his own scouting party anyways.

\- "Dad! That's great news! We could expand more, maybe find more resources. If we keep the grim away of course. We would need to employ Huntsmen and Huntresses though, I'd have to speak with someone at the new CCT headquarters and…"- she was so busy thinking out loud, that she missed her parents' expressions.

\- "Blake… we have more than a few capable fighters in here… I don't think we have to call any from outside."- At her father's words, Blake snapped from her reveries.

\- "Wait, what do you mean by that? Last time I checked, we had only a handful."- At her daughter's frown, Ghira looked away.

-"Blake, you know I do believe in equality. I started the whole thing! But, I'm not sure our people are ready to accept any human coming to the island, not matter how much our trust in them has grown in the last few years…"

And there it was one more time. One of the big reasons she had to push her friends away, and one of them in particular. Menagerie was not ready for arrivals that lacked animal features. They had been pushed by them to live in the Island and it was a thing that still caused pain in the population. Suddenly, the Chieftess felt a hand in her shoulder.

\- "Blake, what your father meant is that we don't know if it can be done yet. It's not a certainty that they won't accept, it's just that you need to see if it's possible in the first place."- Blake looked at her mother and saw only the usual kindness in her eyes, she turned to her father and saw him nodding her way.

\- "I understand. To be honest, I had been thinking on asking the population about it. Maybe if they can see for themselves the goodness in them and not the bad memories of our history, it can be done."

\- "That's my girl, always thinking ahead. Maybe it's time you call some of your Beacon friends, I have been dying to meet someone other than Mr. Wukong and his whole 'she has some moves' speech."- At that, Blake froze for a moment, it had been a while since someone had mentioned them in conversation.

\- "Ghira! The boy only meant well, besides, he's happily married and in another continent."

\- "Well, I still don't like him. Maybe you should call your…"- what he was going to say was interrupted by Blake.

\- "Thank you Dad, thank you Mom. I'm going to lay down for a moment. Welcome back dad."- After that, she gave her father a brief hug and quickly turned on her heel and left the room.

Ghira and Kali could only look in worry at the place their daughter left.

\- "Always running from confronting her feelings, I see. What can we do to help Kali?"

\- "I don't know Ghira, she doesn't want to talk about her team unless it's about the new contracts. I gave up on asking about her partner, she gets this really sad look and leaves the room with a quick apology."- The large man sighed deeply at that.

\- "I'm starting to think I shouldn't have left her the leadership of our people. She already has too much weight on her shoulders… I don't want my daughter to be miserable because she feels like she can't even bring her friends to our home."

\- "It's a very complicated situation… but, maybe what you found crossing the rock desert can bring more than hope to our people. This might definitely force us to bring Huntsmen and Huntresses, if it's people than she can trust in, then we might actually meet her friends… or hear about them at least."

\- "Huh, I can't imagine the Schnee girl stepping a foot in this Island without sweating profusely. Still, so far she hasn't disappointed with the treaties and contracts."- Kali Belladonna swat at his arm softly and rolled her eyes.

\- "Come now Ghira, have some lunch. You still have to explain to me what possessed you to do something as reckless as crossing the rock desert."- the large man flinched at her wife's words.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Back in her room, Blake's mind was buzzing. Blake the Chieftess of Menagerie and Blake from team RWBY were fighting for who got to tear her mind apart with thoughts, worries and feelings she wasn't ready to confront.

She hadn't seen them in years, hadn't been there because of her duties. Had to push one of them away for her own safety. Her parents didn't even know the whole story of what had happened to Her because of Blake's mistakes. Feeling a pang of pain in her chest, Blake distracted herself with looking for her scroll.

Maybe it was time to answer Weiss' message…

 **Hello Weiss, I'm sorry I haven't been able to visit you and Ruby in Vale. I'm sure Blau is very happy with you two doting on her. You sent me a pic of her a month ago, wouldn't mind getting an updated one if it's not much trouble. I'm really sorry for not keeping up with you guys, but perhaps there might be a chance to see you guys earlier than anticipated. I will discuss that when we talk business in another message. I will say though that I got the shipment just fine, and that I sent your regards towards the Kirkas family.**

 **How's Ruby doing? I talked with her briefly a few months ago. She told me all the shenanigans Blau puts you guys through, I'm sure those have multiplied.**

This was the part Blake was having conflicts on, and why she never talked with Ruby for more than a few minutes, there was someone else she wanted to know about but never got the courage to ask. The partner she left behind, two times in her life. For her own good, but the fact remained. They haven't talked in years. After thinking it through, Blake wrote with shaky hands:

 **Do you have any news of Yang? I just want to know if she's doing well... Please, don't tell her I asked.**

After that, Blake hit Send in her scroll before she could change her mind. She left the scroll right beside her on the pillow. She turned to her right and lay on her side. The weight of everything pressing her down. She didn't deserve to know where Yang was, she had left her on her own, partner-less but free of guilt after the trials. With a chance of a new beginning, without the chains of her own darkness clinging to the light that was Yang. Without having to remember all the bad things that happened in her life because of her ties to Blake.

It was at that moment that the very annoying and loud DING made itself known again. Weiss' answer.

I'm glad the shipment got there on time, and thanks for talking to Miss Adler's family. Ruby and I are more than fine. Blau is indeed a handful but I wouldn't change it for the world, being there for her like I wanted my family to be with me in the first place. We are currently in Patch, Ruby was visiting my father in-law and I came to join them for a few days. She's going to stay with Blau after I leave and then we'll reunite at our home in Vale. Also, how's your family doing?

I must say that I'm surprised that you are asking about Yang, took you long enough, Blake Belladonna. Well, I think you should be the one asking her, but I will say this: She's here in Patch. After being all over the world like a tumbleweed, she finally took some vacations to be with the family. I think she really needed to rest, she's been out there non-stop fighting Grim. I think you should really talk to her but that's up to you. I'll send you a pic of my little rosebud after this message. Don't cut this conversation short though, I still want to talk with you.

After that, she thumbed down the conversation and there it was, the picture she requested, but there was a bonus with it. In the picture, front and center there was the little Blau, not so little anymore it seemed, but that wasn't what made Blake gasp audibly. Holding her with what seemed a simple prosthetic and smiling at the camera, was Yang. The person she didn't allow herself to think about, talk about or even contemplate to talk to her. She looked almost the same, except for the prosthesis; when they met after the fall of beacon she fought one-armed and without the aid of one. She looked like she hadn't sleep well for a while but was still happy to hold her niece, if the emotion in her eyes were clear. Those lilac eyes that had been about to burst into tears when they last saw each other, the ones she couldn't look at without feeling like a coward. All at once, she felt the pain she associated with her absence, the guiltiness of the past and the happiness of knowing she was ok.

She wanted to talk to Yang, she really did. But after all these years and all that happened, would she even respond back?

Feeling the tears gathering at the corner of her eyes, the picture grew blurry. She only managed to type:

 **She's beautiful.**

Whether she meant the baby or not was up to interpretation.

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 **Thanks for reading guys! This chapter amost ran away from me when i got to the whole dealings of the Island but i hope you're enjoying the ride.**

 **The Faunus that works as Blake's Right hand is a guinea pig faunus, thus the small ears. Her name means black in Quechua so at her core she can work perfectly with Blake, her last name is what we colloquially call Guinea Pigs in Perú.**

 **If you have any doubts please let me know. Let me know how I'm doing in a review. It would make my day. Thank you! Happy New Year!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello! Sorry for taking a bit more days to update. I had a few situations that impeded me to write freely so i had to wait a little. I hope you like this chapter :) Don't forget to review! thank you!**

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There used to be a time where the medium sized cabin in the Woods was filled with laughter, the sound of accidentally breaking something while playing tag or just plain stories read aloud in all sorts of different voices to interpret different characters. Then came a time of silence, of deep rooted feelings that talking about them didn't seem possible without anyone there to listen; and of solitary grieving. Then some time passed and soon the old sounds were back again, perhaps less lively, but going the right direction; with the addition of a sweet bark here and then, and the voices grew with time. No longer children talking, but teenagers. Not playing tag nor telling stories, but huntress training; rigorous hard training and then the sound of tinkering and construction, of forging the instruments that would lead them to victory against the Grim.

Ruby was aware that there had been another time of silence after that, in which she was also a participant briefly, and after going away in her miscalculated journey to Mistral… she didn't have a clue of what it must have been for her father and sister. But, she was glad that those days were over now, and that she had actually contributed to the noises filling the living room for the last 2 days and that were actually happening at the moment. Courtesy of her and Weiss' little blue rose, that was demanding to be fed with a very loud and somewhat cute noise.

Peeking a look at the room in question she saw an interesting scene. There was her sister, making all sort of funny faces at her little rose, trying to calm her down. Her father was looking over her shoulder doing the same only a bit more calmly in contrast to what his oldest was doing but after a few seconds he gave out and went to the yard to tend to his garden. And then there was Weiss, her wife taking a sip of her recently brewed coffee, observing the situation from the couch with her eyebrow raised and trying to suppress a smile.

Of course her wife would take that moment to have fun at the expense of her in-laws, that wouldn't know that cry in particular indicated that the only way to calm down baby Blau was to either feed her right away, or for Weiss to sing her a lullaby. She could see why Weiss taught it was funny to not intervene right away, taking into consideration the sort of things the two resident blondes had tried in order to calm her down. Yang had resorted to cradle Blau in her arms with her little head tucked under her chin, slightly angled to her left side.

\- "Come on Blau-ie! Don't be sad! Aunty Yang got ya!"- Ruby was suppressing her laugh and was about to tell her what was going on, when her sister started humming something and rocking her daughter from side to side. For some reason, little Blau stopped crying after a few seconds and her big blue eyes widened with the sound of what she could only assume, where the comfortable hums of her aunt.

In a second, Ruby was brought to the past, the one she didn't like to think much into but was inevitable with the scene in front of her. There were buried memories of her mother, Summer, just calming her and Yang down whenever there was a scary noise in their window and they had trouble sleeping, or if one of them had had a nightmare and couldn't stop the crying and trembling. Summer would hum a little tune that would get them back to bed, to sleep or just to calm down. After the death of her mother, whenever she felt bad, Yang would try to console her. She started humming a similar tune. Not the same but just similar enough with what she remembered. It would work sometimes, not all the times, and she would be calm enough to return to what she had been doing before. It was the kind of memory Ruby didn't like to dwell on, because Yang didn't have anyone to do the same for her when she felt bad. And when their father started climbing back up from his depression, Yang had dealt with enough bad moments on her own, that she didn't need to be calmed by anyone. She would just get quiet for a while and then shake herself up to do something else, making the biggest smile at Ruby and moving on.

Always moving on from her own problems and in a way that didn't let her vent her emotions out. So watching Yang calming down her baby daughter brought bittersweet feelings to Ruby.

Going back to the present, Blau was sucking on the back of her hand, slowly looking around with her big blue eyes, trying to locate the sound, Taiyang was smiling at the scene and Weiss had her cup a few inches from her lips, frozen in time and looking at her sister in-law with surprise. And the blonde in question looked relieved that she had managed to calm her a little bit, soon though, she noticed her sister's presence and turned to look at her. She stopped her humming and said to her niece:

-"Don't worry Blau-ie, there's your other mommy. I'm sure she'll know what to do, since the icy one didn't try."- She ended the sentence with a smile thrown at Weiss.

\- "Hey!"- the Schnee protested weakly.

\- "Thank you sis, but I think…"- as she said so, she bypassed the living room and went into the kitchen, speaking louder so they could hear her. – "…that YOU can actually…."- the sound of the refrigerator opening and closing could be heard by the people in the living room, along with different sounds of whatever Ruby was doing. - "… help with this situation."

\- "Me?"- And soon enough, there was Ruby with a small bottle of milk, checking the temperature in her arm. Yang's eyes widened at the sight.

\- "There you go, just do what I showed you earlier and you'll be fine."- Yang sat at the couch and maneuvered her niece in position to give her the bottle that Ruby handed to her. Baby Blau fought a little, not seeing her mother to feed her at first, but then gave up when Yang put the nipple of the bottle in her lips.

\- "Don't forget to make her burp like I showed you, she'll get sleepy after so you can take her to our room to let her sleep or you can let her sleep on you if don't mind."- Nodding without looking at her sister, Yang kept on feeding her niece.

It was a nice sight, and one that Ruby wasn't surprised at. Yang was always the warmest most caring person she knew, and she was glad they could have this little moment. Her baby girl and her big sister, bonding over feeding time.

She felt the long delicate fingers of Weiss take her own shorter ones and she turned to see her wife smiling at her. Ok, her own wife was pretty caring too.

\- "Come Ruby, let's leave them for a moment."- Ruby nodded and was led by her wife to the hall upstairs. Upon arriving to the old sister's room, Weiss sighed and took her scroll out of her pocket, checking for something.

\- "Is everything ok Weiss? I've seen you checking your scroll now and then for the last 2 hours."- Turning around and looking at her scroll open more time before facing her wife, Weiss said:

\- "I've been chatting with Blake today and she hasn't messaged me back after responding with only two words. I'm a little worried that something may have happened to her… or that what we were talking about affected her."- Weiss' eyes grew stormy, looking down in contemplation.

\- "Well… what is it that you were talking about? Was it business or something else?". - At that moment Ruby could see the doubt in her wife's beautiful eyes, the eyes her daughter had gratefully inherited instead of her own silver ones. She knew her love would tell her whatever it was that was troubling her, so she let her gather her thoughts for a bit.

\- "We were talking about Blau and how she hasn't come to visit us, but then she asked me something. She… asked about Yang."- Then it was Ruby's turn to grow worried, she turned around and looked for the bed, she sat down quietly and looked at Weiss, that was looking at her confused by her reaction.

\- "I'm sorry, I think I heard wrong, you said Blake said the Y word? After all these years?"- She was growing a bit manic, her silver eyes looking intently at Weiss' icy ones.

-"Yes, she told me not to tell her anything though. She just wanted to know how was she doing."- As soon as the words left her mouth, Weiss realized maybe she should have worded that differently.

-"Oh? Now she wants to know? After leaving her all alone when the trials were done? For the sake of our own friendship and respect for my sister to deal with the situation, I never said anything to her about it. But I'm tired of seeing my sister suffer again and again because Blake doesn't have the decency to at least speak to her after leaving to another continent!"- Weiss had seen Ruby mad before but this was the first time she saw her mad at one of her friends. She was breathing quickly after her little speech, she seemed to have trouble calming down, so Weiss, closed the distance and kneeled before her, taking both her hands in her own.

-"I know how you feel. I think Yang deserves more after all that has happened but Blake has always had her own situations to solve. She wanted to fight for equality and she's fiercely doing so now. I don't think it was easy to let anything with the Schnee brand in the markets of Menagerie but there they are now, the people in the island are slowly but surely trusting again. Our treaties and business deals are making a difference. And that's what she always pursued. Even when we were back at Beacon, that was what she wanted to do. And I'm sure she must still feel guilty after what happened to Yang. I'm not saying she's been doing it the right way though!". She added as soon as she saw Ruby's eyes squinting at her.-"Look, I want to knock some sense into her, but at the same time I'm not sure if I should push her or not. She's got many things on her plate, and Yang just came back and she has to rest and I don't think Blake should contact her right now. They have to talk eventually but, I don't think now is the right time."- After that, Ruby's look softened slowly, taking the white haired woman's words into consideration.

-"I'm sorry I raised my voice. I… I think I understand, it's just… It breaks my heart to know that Yang could have been living a better life this last few years if Blake hadn't left her like she did or maybe had talked to her even once after she left the continent."

Yang hadn't talked to her in detail about their last conversation but she didn't have to. Ruby could see it in the way her lilac eyes seemed to dull when she spoke of it. The fire she had gained back months after the fall of beacon had seemed to become smaller and more fragile than ever before. If Blake had good reasons to leave where Yang couldn't follow, then there was nothing she could do, but not calling or writing to her even once? Ruby stopped asking if Blake had talked to her after a full year had passed. After that, news of Blake being the new Chieftess of Menagerie spread around and she started talking to Weiss to see what they could do. It was a bit jarring that after leaving, she was the first member of team RWBY she spoke with and not her partner, former partner now. And when she talked with Ruby from time to time, she always seemed a bit hurried on her questions…. Perhaps sensing that that it was awkward not to talk about the goliath in the room, especially since the one she was talking with was said goliath's sister. And the last time Ruby had talked to her sister about the subject, Yang just shrugged and changed the topic. She really didn't want her sister to get hurt, so she kind of thought it would be better this way…. If Blake took herself out of Yang's life then maybe her sister would forget about her entirely, meet other people and hope for the best. But asking about her? If she gave false hope to her sister, then Ruby wasn't sure about what she would do. Blake was her friend that had moved away to other continent, but Yang was her only sister and her favorite person beside Weiss and Blau. It was obvious which side she would be on. Weiss' soft voice took her back to the present.

\- "I know my love; I wish things would have been different. I wanted to talk to Blake about the situation before she asked me about Yang… I guess I can see why she hasn't answered back after what I send her last."- With curious eyes, Ruby asked what it was.

-"She had asked for an update on our baby, so I sent her the picture I took this morning… of Yang holding Blau."- At that, Ruby's mouth fell open.-"What? Why that one? Did you tell her before that Yang was back?"

\- "Yeah… I told her we were at Patch for a bit and that Yang was back."- Weiss' voice carried a bit of guilt at her wife's reaction. - "I just… I thought that if we were in their situation… it would kill me to not see you in so long. I managed fine at Atlas after Beacon, only because it was less than a year and I was still confused about my feelings for you. It was rough… to be there with all these worries and I didn't know anything about you or anyone really. So… I looked at our pictures. It saddened me greatly after what happened but at the same time…. It gave me the courage to start standing up to my father… so…. While I may not know the full extent of what Blake is going on through now… I felt pity and just… hit send on that picture. I'm sorry if I crossed a line, I…"- Somewhere along the conversation, Weiss had diverted her gaze towards the floor, so when she felt something touch her forehead, she snapped her eyes back to the front and met Ruby's silver ones. She wasn't mad with her.

\- "I get it. I know you care about all of us Weiss. I'm just being extra defensive for my sister. I'm sure you understand. Blake is more friendly with you than with me at the moment and I can see why. Hell... you might as well be her only friend at the moment for all I know. So I think, maybe let her get back to you… maybe she wants to apologize or something, I don't know. Just make sure to know for real that she wants to be fully back on my sister's life, because if she leaves her again, I will go to Menagerie myself and slap some sense into her. And that won't benefit anyone, to see a human attacking the Chieftess of Menagerie."- At that, Weiss giggled softly.

\- "Not any human, but the Grim Reaper herself, don't sell yourself short."- Ruby made a non-committal noise at the back of her throat in response. Weiss looked into her eyes, and could see the love she felt for the younger huntress reflected back at her in the mesmerizing pools of silver. She moved her hands to softly capture Ruby's jaw in them, and slowly but surely, while still transfixed in her gaze; Weiss closed the distance between them and kissed her with all she had. Sharing what words could not express to demonstrate her love for her wife and soulmate. After a few moments, the kiss grew in intensity and Weiss had to stop herself. As much as she wanted to show Ruby how much she loved her in that instant, they had both agreed to wait 6 months after giving birth, just in case as a precaution to be completely sure Ruby's body would be a hundred percent ready for anything.

Feeling breathless, Ruby had felt the love her wife shared with her and couldn't wait to get together in a more intimate way; and looking into Weiss' eyes, she knew she wanted to as well.

-"Just another month, love. Just a little more."- Weiss nodded and took a deep breath to center herself. She pecked her sweetly and stood up to her full height again.

\- "Right, so… I will handle the situation with Blake as you told me, and I won't say anything to Yang about it until I know for sure that this could be a good thing for her."- Smiling brightly, Ruby stood up as well.

\- "Yes. Now, I think it's time for me to search for our baby. I know for a fact that Yang is a very comfy person to fell asleep on but Blau should have proper rest in a mattress. Are you going to do what you were dying to do yesterday?". - At that, icy blue eyes widened along with an honest smile and Weiss said:

-"Definitely! This has been postponed for too long! I will go in the search of the mythical creature that I haven't cuddled with yet! The Zwei must be cuddled at all costs!"- at the raised eyebrow of her wife, Weiss controlled her emotions and added: - "And I won't forget he's a retired warrior and an old corgi so I'm not allowed to give him a strong hug but a regular one instead. Got it!"

O0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o

When she found them, she thought her sister was as asleep as the baby girl sleeping on her, but a second look told her that Yang was actually looking down on her niece. She seemed to be at peace with the world, just focusing on the little life resting on her. Her small breathing mesmerizing her in ways she never thought possible, and Ruby wouldn't blame her. When she first saw the little baby that she and Weiss had made, she fell in love instantly. She forgot all about the pain and the discomfort of all the previous months and just, wanted to give her anything she could; protect her from all harm and love her until her last days.

It seemed that she wasn't the only one who had that revelation; Weiss confessed to her that she had almost fainted when she looked at her baby girl, with the mix of feelings hitting her straight in the gut and leaving her breathless. Weiss loved her daughter as much as her, and Yang definitely wanted to be more involved in her life, which was a great thing.

After all that had happened, Ruby appreciated that she got to live that moment; a world where there was no evil mastermind lurking in the shadows, where she was actually married to the love of her life (even if she didn't know at first that it was love), where she had a beautiful healthy daughter with said woman and her sister was back home, smiling again and taking it easy with her duties. She would love to have her old team back together, but after the talk with Weiss she realized that everything happens for a reason. Maybe this had to happen in the order that happened so there was a chance to make things right in a way.

Maybe Blake was as confused as she was when she first got to Beacon, but at least she had been doing actual work to change the views of Faunus-Human relations. Who knows, maybe there would be a time where Yang could follow where she wasn't allowed to before. But as of right now, she seemed content to have her niece in her arms. She was laying back on the couch, with Blau perched atop her chest. She was holding her bottom with her right hand and cradling her head with the left one. Slowly petting her dark hair and breathing in tandem with her.

\- "I think she really likes you."- Ruby said as she sat close to her sister, trying not to disturb her baby daughter. - "She can be a bit cranky like Weiss, especially with people she doesn't see often; but apparently, she feels safe with you."- At that, Yang gazed at her carefully, a small smile spreading slowly.

\- "Well, it might be she just really likes that I'm warm and comfy enough. I'm surprised she hasn't tried to nurse from me, I read that it's natural for babies to seek for it when they're hungry."- Ruby giggled softly.

\- "Give her time, she hasn't showed you all her tricks yet. By the way, what you did earlier… that was the first time she got calm without being fed or sang to by Weiss. You managed to do it in no time. I'm really impressed."- Yang gazed back down to her niece, and Ruby could see it clearly now. The extent of Yang's love for her niece.

\- "Thank you. I'm glad I was able to help you guys. But… it's kinda unfair."- Ruby's expression grew confused-

\- "What is?"

-"Your baby is so cute it's almost a crime. I really really love her, it makes me sad to think you'll go back to Vale in a week."- Suddenly, Yang's eyes seemed to grow troubled, but Ruby said:

\- "Sis, you can always go and visit us. I mean, you and Dad are always welcome in our home, you can always drop by whenever you come back from any mission. Like Winter does; which, by the way, after our talk yesterday I really hope you don't take the long, dangerous ones."- At that, her older sister turned to look at her.

\- "I promise I will see her grow, I can't promise I won't take long missions, since I want to make the world safer for her, but I promise to refrain from doing the really dangerous ones, unless there's a really good reason for it."

After that, Ruby nodded at her and just stared at her little rosebud. She could understand that; she herself would battle horde after horde of grim if it meant keeping the monsters away from her defenseless baby, but she also knew what it was to grow without a mother that sought to fight for the same reason. And she didn't wish that on nobody. She was truly lucky to be alive, after what they have gone through in the war with Salem, she could have died too many times on her journey. But here she was.

She got to look at her sister again and started pondering. Was it good that Blake was asking about Yang after all this time? Was it a good idea to let her know that she had asked about her? Could she trust Blake to not break her sister's heart again after the last time? She wasn't sure, but she knew the choice wasn't actually hers, but her sister's and no one else's.

She just hoped Blake knew what she was doing, especially since she had much more on her shoulders than the last time they had been reunited as partners with her sister. But if she were hurt her again… she really didn't want to start another war anytime soon.

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 **Thank you for reading! :D i struggled a little writing Ruby, I think Weiss is easiest for me, along with Yang; but i'm not sure i hit the nail with Ruby. So yeah. I think I'll consider canon for the story anything from vol4 chapter 6 backwards just in case. I mean, I wasn't planning on integrating many details from volume 4 but i might do so from time to time. Please let me know what you liked or dislked from the chapter, if you have any questions, leave me a review ;) Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! sorry it took so long to update. I have just been busy and just waited out the final to see where it was going and re check where I'm going with this story :) There are minor _SPOILERS_ for the last chapter of volume 4. My story takes from canon somewhere around chapter 6 of volume 4, so I'm not taking everything into consideration regarding the last episodes. So, if you want to be extremely careful about spoilers, don't worry, i get it. But it's nothing too big. Reviews are encouraged :D Enjoy!**

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It had only been a few hours since she last typed a response to her only stable link to her old team, but Blake couldn't help but feel that she had no right to respond. She walked into that one by asking about Yang, and seeing her again after so long, even if it was only in a picture… had affected her more than what she was mildly prepared for.

She couldn't cope with the feeling that it was wrong to even think about her. She never intended to hurt her again, but the prolonged silence created an unbearable void of nightmares and creatures far worse than the world has ever seen. And she can feel the demons again, those she pushes to the back of her mind every day since she last took a life changing decision and told herself (like she had been telling herself all along) it was for the good of those who needed her as a vital chess piece to move forward in a way unprecedented in the history of Remnant. But… were the people of Menagerie the only ones who needed her? If she was honest… she kind of hoped Yang didn't need her anymore in her life. After all she put her through, conscious or not, Yang deserved far better than what had been dealt in her life. And Blake had a feeling, that she was another unlucky turn in a bad game of poker, where the stakes where too high to continue. But Yang was strong, right? At her core, in her past, she had dealt with far worse since an early age and she could do with a bad partner choosing another path, right?... Right?

Another sob was threatening to escape her tightly closed lips, her emotions forcing her body to convulse slightly. And this is why she never allowed herself to think about these things. She knew which of those were a lie, she knew what had really led her to take those decisions and she had very poor control over the feelings that were fighting to pour out of her chest… she already knew it, after the last trip to Menagerie. She cried in her cabin for days, and only left to get some food and drink some water. Leaving Yang the first time was to protect her from Adam, to protect her team. But she knew deep down that she should have been there for her; like Yang always had since the moment they met. Blake had dreamed about it, that moment where everything changed; when Yang ran towards her without a thought and tried to save her from the monster she had previously compared her to that same day. She had seen it time after time, Yang spinning above her… gold sprouting from the arm that had been severed because of her. It was ironic in a way, that she forced away all the memories and talk of Yang during the day, but at night where she was most vulnerable, it was all she thought about.

Blake clutched her pillow against her chest with more strength than necessary, biting her lip while the forbidden memories swirled around in her head. The memories of what she said, how she said them and to whom were those words for.

It had been a few hours after the trial of Mercury Black. The whole team had been there to support Yang, who had more or less given up on having her name cleared of all wrongs. They had been sitting together, listening to him confess it all and waiting for him to say anything about what happened before the fall. Yang had been slouching forward, with her left elbow resting on her knee and her chin resting on her palm, looking towards the center of the room where he was being questioned. Blake had put her arm on the blonde's right knee for support, eyeing her from time to time to check on her. Ruby had been at Yang's left side, with her right palm resting over Yang's back, doing slow circles every few minutes. Weiss had been sitting next to Ruby, sitting straight and looking intently at what was transpiring… reading between the lines of the things he had been saying.

Turns out, Mercury Black looked very different from the last time they had seen him, he looked defeated in more ways than one. According to him, Emerald Sustrai was the first of Cinder's goons to realize that what they were doing was no good for anyone at all. Salem's war against humanity and Faunus alike left them in the losing side anyways, no matter if they had helped out or not. Her death had impacted Mercury to the point of telling things that may have been inconsequential at the time for the crimes he had been accused of, but… as it turns out, his and Yang's fight was one of those things.

When he had started talking about that night where Yang's honor was blemished, Blake had felt the slight tremors running through Yang's body. For the longest time since they had reunited, Yang had been avoided by the population seeking huntsmen and huntresses to battle the grim, accused by the people of being a ruthless disgraced huntress to be… a hungry blood thirsty being, as scary as the monsters that haunted them. She had brushed it off multiple times, fighting the grim and exterminating them anyways; but Blake could see the hurt in those deep, beautiful lilac eyes. And she had seen it again that night of the Salem trials, when Mercury Black confessed tricking Yang's mind using Emerald's semblance of Illusion. How they had made it seem like he was attacking the blonde, making her retaliate and unhinge his leg prosthesis, tricking everyone that she had just attacked him out of the blue. As quick as lightning, she had seen the tear filled lilac eyes before her, when she had admitted to not believing her partner. When she had undoubtedly made the first dent into their history together, by not trusting the one who had helped her numerous times and brought her back from her obsession a few months prior to the tournament. And not only that, but comparing her to the monster who had taken her arm…. And then running away when she lost her arm… Blake had really hurt her.

So when she had been taken back to those memories, she realized something… she had been the one to mess it all up for her partner. She should have supported her all the times she turned her away; one way of the other. She was no good to Yang. As the trial kept on going with the judges asking questions to Mercury, Blake's hand had left Yang's knee and hanged limply by Blake's side. She had no right to be there for her, not when she could clearly see that she was one more painful stain in Yang's life. She was listening to one of their former enemies vouching for Yang's innocence, when she, her partner, was the first one to trust what she had seen instead of Yang's words. That she had even dared to compare her to the monster from her past only added more salt into the wound, but running away had to be the one the finishing blow.

She had stayed until the end of trial, when Yang was absolved of hurting a passive person and stated as a victim of the circumstances; Yang had taken a big breath of relief and accepted Ruby's happy bear hug. Weiss had turned around to look at her team and said that she was happy for Yang. Lilac eyes had then turned to look into her partner's amber ones, and Blake had met them, full of tears. She didn't have the heart to tell Yang the reason for her crying… she suspected that Yang thought them tears of relief for her.

They had all gone to a bar to celebrate that night, and to say goodbye for the moment. Weiss had to leave early for Atlas to do major damage control of what her disgusting father and brother had done since she left the manor. Ruby was going to accompany her girlfriend and act as moral support as well. So it was gonna be a while until the four of them met each other again… sadly, Blake's actions in the following days made it sure they wouldn't meet anytime in the following years.

She had acted as normal as possible… perhaps a bit more aloof than usual. She had avoided being alone with Yang in the bar and the gears in her head had concocted the only solution she could think of in order to move forward. She had to leave Yang, so she would be free of Blake's bad choices in the future and the ones in her past. She had to leave her so she would soar free of the chains that having a bad partner caused. She had to leave her and all the progress they had made to fix their partnership. Blake was aware of her feelings for the blonde and knew Yang cared a lot for her, even if she hadn't actually said what was the nature of those feelings. So they had never voiced them aloud. How could they? Blake would never fault Yang for thinking Blake untrustworthy in any way; and Blake knew Yang deserved a better person that she could ever be.

So Blake had contacted her parents, to let them know she was going back home. The only place she knew Yang couldn't follow; to chase a person who didn't even deserved to be called friend again.

Two days after the trial, after Weiss and Ruby had parted with the promise to go on a hunt as soon as they returned, Blake had asked Yang to go to a park, near to where they had been staying for the trial. Yang didn't know, but Blake had packed all her belongings already.

Thinking back on it, Blake had wondered for the longest time why Yang never noticed the smallest of signs for her change in demeanor; why Blake was more silent than usual, why she never seemed able to put her book down in the hours following the trial. Why when they sat at one of the benches in the middle of the park, Yang was encouraging her to speak at her leisure, with a smile that she hadn't seen in a while… and that she wouldn't see again.

So she had started the conversation prompting Yang about the mission at Mountain Glenn, about their goals in life. Yang had been a bit confused by it, but she did remember what the 3 of them had said that night. Blake had been preparing herself to harden her heart for the conversation, but it was difficult not to offer any comfort when she told Yang she needed to go towards her goals in life, to fix what she had a hand in ruining during her White Fang days. When she said she was leaving for Menagerie that same day and that she wished for Yang to find freedom and go wherever her heart desired for the next years; Yang's face told her she never suspected a thing, the moment tears gathered once again in the corners of her lilac eyes, somehow dulled now even with the shimmering of the tears, Blake knew she took her unaware. She wasn't lying when she said she wanted to do right by faunus and humans alike, but she didn't want to part from Yang, not really. The only comfort she managed, was to say they would reunite whenever she was done fighting for equality, and even that… wasn't any comfort at all.

She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream, she wanted to tell Yang the truth, but deep down she knew… she would only hurt Yang more in the longtime if she stayed. If Yang's pain was a wound, then Blake was the dirty cloth that tried to cover it, trying to offer assistance but only managing to infect her more and more. Even by washing the wound away and soothing it with creams and medicine, the dirty cloth would never let her heal.

Yang had held herself not to cry, even if anyone who stopped long enough could see the shaking of her shoulders. She had seemed to battle against herself to say anything other than what she had said next: She told Blake to stay safe, to chase her dreams and that she wished her a good trip.

Everything in Blake's body told her to stay, to say something, to tell the truth… to offer any sort of comforting word to let her know that she really cared for her… more than she ever let on… but she didn't.

She said thank you, patted her knee one more time and stood up to leave, but something rooted her back into the bench. Yang had pulled her by her sleeve towards her and hugged her one last time. Blake wanted to die, for she knew... if she wanted what was best for Yang… that this was the last time she would ever be in Yang's warm embrace. The last time she would ever be in her presence. So she had indulged and embraced her right back.

Words unsaid, actions that were not carried… had haunted Blake since that day at the park. But not more than Yang's eyes when they parted ways. They were dull and lifeless, looking downwards to the ground without really looking at all, the saddest thing Blake had ever seen in her life, and it was all her fault.

She couldn't hold it anymore. Back at her room, still clutching her pillow. Blake broke down… not for herself, but for the ray of sunshine she had ruined by just walking into her life.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

There were a few things in life that one had to just do for the sake of being able to. One of those things was to pet the fur of the most magnificent corgi that ever lived, a hero of Mountain Glenn and the best company one could ask for in battle, a walk into the forest or just lay down in a perfect afternoon.

Weiss was glad today was one of those days. She had found the precious corgi resting underneath one of the trees outside the cabin. He had more white hairs mingled with the black ones that she remembered seeing the last time she had met Zwei, but as soon as he heard her coming and he wiggled his little tail, Weiss knew he was the same corgi she had the great pleasure of meeting almost ten years ago. She couldn't help but squeal and run towards him, kneeling at his side and peppering him with kisses all over his head,

Hugging a Zwei was the best remedy for all that could ever weight over your shoulders. She had known of course that he had been a Rehab kind of dog from the start, but had ended up being the best help in battle along the way. She supposed it only make sense, ever since meeting her father in-law, that Zwei would end up being a force to be reckoned while still being a precious caring little thing. Taiyang did raise both his daughter to be that way anyways, made sense for the little corgi to be subjected to it as well.

So Weiss picked him up with a bit of effort and placed him on her lap while she sat herself against the tree. If anyone that didn't know her chanced to look at her in that moment, would have been very surprised to see the CEO of the SDC, the elite Huntress and Vale's mediator sitting on the ground while a medium sized dog slobbered her all over the face.

Of course, Weiss didn't care at all. Cuddling Zwei was something she had wanted to do for a long time and she was happy to finally do it.

-"I'm shoo happy you weetle doggy. Who's the bwest doggy in the world? Yessh you are! Yeeesssshh you are!"- If she looked or sounded ridiculous at all, Weiss did not care a bit. Zwei was a veteran now, but he still could spare a moment to make sweet noises whenever one of his favorite humans decided to spend time with him. He was in the middle of licking Weiss under the chin when a familiar voice spoke.

\- "You know… I don't think that's proper form for bonding with your wife's dog."- Weiss and Zwei turned to see Yang approaching; it seemed she was fiddling with her prosthesis at the juncture when she suddenly took it off with a small clicking noise.

-"Here boy! Fetch!"- She said as she threw her arm towards the woods with enough strength to lose sight of it. Zwei barked once and gingerly took off towards it, careful not to exert himself in the way. Weiss was wide eyed for a second but soon sighed loudly.

\- "I'm not gonna ask why would you do that, but if you must know… I don't appreciate you interrupting my sweet Zwei moment. I never see him, at all."- Yang rolled her eyes jokingly and took a sit right next to Weiss.

\- "Would you say… I …Cut it short? Uh? Uh?"- Weiss urged the feel to facepalm as hard as possible while Yang "elbowed" her with her metallic stump.

-"Goddamnit Yang. I swear you are impossible."- Still, it was nice to see that Yang was somewhat over what happened to her in the past. Yang giggled for a bit and then relaxed. It was always nice to sit on the shade of her yard.

-"Yeah yeah Ice Queen, I love you too. If you have to know though, I used to play with Zwei like that when I had my first prosthesis. Before I started wearing it."- At that, the blonde got a little quiet. Weiss knew she wasn't always this easygoing about it.

\- "I… woke very upset one night, and I kinda… threw it out my window… I had one of my nightmares and when I opened my eyes, it kinda felt like it was mocking me from the package it was in. So I threw it… only… it was returned to me a few minutes later."- Yang's smile surfaced once more as she was telling the story. – "So apparently I woke Zwei, he was napping downstairs. He just, took it in his jaw all the way and dropped it in my room. I realized I was being… childish, so I kinda made into a little game of fetch and had it laying around in my room."- Weiss smiled right back. She knew some of the things Yang had endured after the fall of Beacon, when they reunited in the continent of Anima and swapped stories; but she never heard of that one.

\- "Wait… what happened to the first one?"- Weiss questioning eyes looked at the blonde who gave a half-shrug.

\- "Eh. I fought a Beringel before I met you. It almost smashed my precious bumblebee to pieces, so I smashed his face with my fist."- The way she said it only made Weiss resist the urge to crack up, instead she offered snicker.

\- "Let me guess… you smashed a perfectly good metallic arm to save your bike? Really Yang?"

\- "Oh come on! You are lucky I saved my baby anyways, I didn't hear you complain when we rode her all the way to Mistral!"- The CEO couldn't deny it. She also couldn't say how terrified she had been at every twist and turn of the road, Yang's driving was barbaric… she also had no idea if the brakes were located at the right or left handlebar, so she was at the edge of losing it the whole time.

\- "Don't worry about Zwei though, he will be back soon enough. I just wanted to have a talk with you without having to hear you baby-talk my dog."- Yang smirked at her and Weiss only managed to look peeved for a few seconds.

\- "Out with it Xiao Long, what is it?"- The Dragon Huntress seemed to shrink into herself slightly as she turned to look at the ground. She seemed to be playing with the grass as she pondered something. Weiss let her gather her thoughts for a bit, and soon enough she noticed that Yang seemed a bit… embarrassed somehow.

\- "So… I was talking to Ruby a moment ago and well… I realized I'm… gonna miss my baby niece a lot. She said it was ok to visit you guys in Vale if I wanted to. I just wanted to ask you if that was ok with you. If I visit sometime."- The white haired woman was a bit flabbergasted.

-"What? Of course you can, you dunce! Why would you ask my permission? I told you already, we are family Yang. You are part of a select group I can describe as Family and really mean it. You are welcome to visit and stay as much as you want."- The blonde one nodded at her gratefully and Weiss realized that wasn't the reason for her sudden meekness.

-"What is it Yang? There's something else… am I right?"- The taller of the two just managed to move her head slightly.

\- "Yes. I… wanted to ask you something. I would ask Ruby but… somehow it doesn't feel right considering… well. I don't know. Maybe I'm being dumb about this."- Weiss looked at her team mate with a quirked eyebrow. She could clearly see she was uncomfortable or nervous as soon as she saw her rise her hand to the back of her neck. Suddenly she felt dread. Could it be she somehow found about Blake? No, there was no way she would. She and Ruby said they wouldn't tell her about it… so then, what could it be?

\- "I… don't think too much on this, ok? I'm just curious and you're the only one I feel ok to ask. So…what is it like… to be a mother?". - If Weiss could say she was taken by surprise it would be a complete understatement. She couldn't help to wide her eyes towards her sister in-law.

\- "…Huh? What?". - She could see how flustered Yang had become.

-"Ok look. It's one thing to sort of raise your little sister briefly and it's something different to actually raise or have a child. So I wouldn't really know. And, don't think anything weird about it. I'm just asking out of curiosity, I'm not considering anything at all, ok?"

She could see how that's a normal thing to ask, but still… it came out of nowhere for Weiss; so she just took a moment to get her thoughts in order and said:

\- "It's… loving in ways you never thought possible. It's not like a soulmate love or… what I've been told people feel towards their own parents…"- At that, the CEO could feel Yang comprehend what she was implying about her own parents. – "… It's… how you feel towards my daughter, combined with how you feel towards your sister and multiplied by infinity. There is no measure for the love I feel for my little rosebud and no clearer words to explain but… it is as close as I can get without feeling like I'm underplaying it. And… I know I wasn't the one to carry her but… it doesn't diminish anything I feel for her. So there you go…. That's is more or less how it is."- Suddenly, Yang was looking intently into Weiss' eyes, like studying the truth in her words; which made the smaller woman feel a bit exposed, until Yang closed her eyes and made a content hum.

\- "Thank you Weiss, I can see what you mean. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable somehow, but for a moment there, you had the look."- Before she could ask, Yang raised her hand to stop her. – "The same look I can see in Ruby's eyes when she's looking at Blau-ie… and the same I could see in Summer's eyes."- Weiss only managed to give a small knowing smile. - "Summer… my mom had this look that made you feel instantly happy and safe. For the longest time I didn't know what was it exactly or even think about it, but after seeing Ruby with my baby niece…. I know what it was all along. And I'm glad you have it too.". - Yang just sat content for the rest of the time after Weiss nodded at her in thanks; lost in the calm of the afternoon.

Weiss wanted to ask the reason as to why she had even asked in the first place… but she kind of figured it wouldn't be a happy sort of conversation. Soon enough, short paws made their way into their field of vision. Zwei was carrying Yang's arm in his jaws like it was just another stick in a game of fetch. He went straight to his owner and deposited the arm on Yang's lap.

-"Good boy Zwei! You're getting a treat tonight!"- She started laughing and without caring about the mess it was, she put the arm on; ready to pet Zwei all over. And Weiss was studying all this with only a thought in her mind. If saying anything about Blake would threaten the happy picture right in front of her and bring back what she knew had torn Yang inside, then she wouldn't say anything at all.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Kali Belladonna was worried for her daughter's well-being. She had accomplished much; it was true… but what was it costing her? Storming off like she did after Ghira's arrival was a point of concern for her, so she let her daughter have her space. It was only coincidence that she happened to pass by Blake's bedroom door on her way to another part of the house, and it was only by luck (and clearly not her cat ears) that she even managed to hear her struggling at all. She didn't want to appear like she was purposely eavesdropping on her, so she just passed the door entirely and kept on her way. It wasn't until 10 minutes later that she heard her desperate sobbing and crying that had her all but running to her bedroom.

She managed to keep herself in check and quickly knocked on the door three times.

\- "Blake? Are you ok? May I come in?"- when she didn't get an answer but could still hear the crying, she took the handle and opened the door. She had a clear view of the bed, but her daughter was covering her face with her pillow. When she got close enough, she could finally see the mess that was her daughter.

\- "Blake? What happened sweetheart? What's going on?"- Finally, Blake opened her eyes, and looked at her mother.

\- "Mom… I can't take it anymore…"- Alarmed, Kali took a seat next to her baby girl, and started combing her long hair with her fingers, trying to calm her down a bit, since the hiccups were still taking control of her breathing pattern.

\- "What is it dear? Is there anything I can do to help you?"- calming herself a bit, the young woman managed to say:

\- "I made a mistake… and… it's… all my fault… please just… I need to say it."- Kali was scared, but she prompted her daughter to continue.

\- "I messed it all up mom. I… I think… I need to tell you… about Her."

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 **I'm sorry, i went all in with the Blake angst, but hey! you got some zwei goofy goodness :D I was struggling for a bit with Blake's part but i hope i managed to convey her feelings with my erratic grammar Dx As always, i love Weiss - Yang scenes, it's very easy for me somehow. Maybe it's because they're my two favorites :)**

 **Please let me know if you liked the chapter or if there's something you didn't like or just to say hi. I greatly appreciate your input and it makes me really happy :)**

 **Also, the credits song for this volume brings me joy like nothing else :'D see you soon!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello guys! Thank you so so so much for the response to this fic. You have no idea how happy you make me with your reviews, you guys are the best D': I'm sorry this might not be as Valentine's day as you may think it is, but i completely forgot what day was today and figured it out why wait until tomorrow when you guys clearly want to read what happens next? so that's why I'm updating today :) now, i hope you enjoy it :)**

* * *

She thought she was prepared to hear what her daughter had to say, but that hadn't been the case at all. She was laying down next to her daughter, who was completely exhausted after pretty much throwing up her emotions in a desperate manner in the last few hours. She was holding her next to her chest; lulling her to sleep with her heartbeats like when she was her baby girl; and in a way, she still was. And it saddened her terribly to learn what had transpired between her little girl and her partner.

Blake was always the silent type. The kind of person you had to ask many questions in order to get answers or she wouldn't share them at all; unless of course, she got prodded one too many times or her inner turmoil forced her to do so in an explosive manner… which was exactly what had happened.

Kali had known that something bad had to have happened to her daughter's friend during the fall of Beacon, but Sun had said it wasn't his place to say what it was and that he barely knew the circumstances about it. Kali had a strong feeling Blake had felt guilty in some way, but she didn't know that the girl had lost her arm to protect her; that Blake had felt responsible and just ran away to protect her but hurting her more by leaving in the process. It was bittersweet to learn that someone had saved your daughter's life… but in exchange of a part of her.

Blake had been heaving with pain when she tried to explain that she hadn't trusted Yang after the one on one finals of the tournament, and even then… her partner had fought to protect her from the monster she accused her of being similar to. Blake had also explained briefly that staying with Adam Taurus after her and Ghira left was one of the worst decisions of her life, that she had been young and confused and that he had mistreated her emotionally and had become something else entirely. Kali had tried to ask her more about the situation with that maniac, but Blake said that it wasn't important, that nothing could compare to the painful happenings that occurred with Yang later, because she was responsible for all her heartache.

Kali refused to believe that was true, but Blake wouldn't stop crying and clawing at her elbows when she held herself. So she told her all about the time they reunited again, how it had been difficult to reconnect, to even look her in the eyes when all she could see was Adam attacking her. And how difficult it had been to explain that she left for her own good, when all she could see in Yang's eyes was the suffering she had put her through and her missing arm was a constant reminder of her failure. Blake had been crying during it all, jumping from an event to another, confusing Kali as to when every story took place, but they more or less told her that her daughter felt incredibly guilty for even meeting her partner in the first place, to have become an ominous shadow of misfortune. But it wasn't until she spoke of the Salem trials that Kali realized the nature of her daughter's feelings towards her partner.

She loved her, beyond the bond of battles and the comradery and friendship that is born out of spending time with each other… of protecting your partner and having their back. Blake loved her the same way Kali loved Ghira, only she felt that she had hurt her in ways she could never even ask for forgiveness.

She had thrown herself to Kali's arms and cried her heart out; she had done so in such a manner, that soon she wasn't able to produce any noise but whimpers with her surely damaged vocal cords. So Kali cradled her in her arms, like she had done more than 20 years before, and managed to get her to sleep right then and there... petting her hair in a calming motion.

Kali was worried for her daughter and she hadn't been able to get a word between each desperate attempt from Blake to tell her all that was burdening her; so instead, she had time to think about it while she slept.

Kali was indeed worried for her daughter, but also for her daughter's partner. She tried to put herself in each situation and realized that she could see why Blake thought the worst of herself, but she could also see that she needed to intervene. Blake's partner… Yang, must have been completely devastated when Blake left her the second time. Somewhere in her daughter's rant, she had said something about Yang trusting her with her mother's story and that she had pretty much done the same thing than her. Kali wasn't a hundred percent sure about the context of Yang's emotions but she could at the very least see that she clearly had cared a lot for Blake. Only she wasn't sure if that still held true.

Taking a big breath, Kali took her time to think about what she was going to tell her daughter, but for now… she just hoped she could be of help to at least offer her tranquility in her sleep.

O00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

When he was younger and foolish; many, many years ago, he told himself he would only need 3 things in life. One was the bravery to face any monster and demon that would stand before him; training to become a huntsman, it only made sense. The second one would be the power to remain calm and not lose sight of his objectives during any situation, to choose the best option to confront his enemies; and the third one was the glory and feeling of realization after a good hunt, even better if he could have that with a team or a battle partner who had the same aspirations as him.

But soon he would realize, life wasn't about those things, no matter if you were a huntsman in training or not. He learned that there was more to life than career aspirations, or the glory of the battle or even many passionate nights somewhere in the world with a great woman. It only took him one look into lilac, defenseless eyes to question everything he knew about life and choices and aspirations. To see the tiny fingers, taking hold of him as his daughter cried for a mother she had only met once to never meet again in the foreseeable future; to hear the desperation coming from the tiny little baby that was his daughter… he realized he had been wrong all along.

In just seconds, it didn't matter what he wanted in life, or glory, or even the pain of the child's mother leaving them behind. She was all that mattered, and he would try his best to raise her and give her double the love she deserved, because she only had him, and in a way… he only had her in the world.

Sometime after that… he would fall in love a second time, with a woman he already had high regards for… and not only was she a great woman already, but also a good one. He could see the love in her silver eyes whenever the blonde little girl raised her hands asking to be held in her arms, or when she played with her or anytime really, that she spent with his daughter. And soon enough, their love grew and then, another tiny baby came into the world and to his life. She looked nothing like him, but he didn't care at all, because he could see her mother in her and that added to his feelings already.

The three things he had told himself he would need in his life became three people that completed him in ways he never thought possible, and he lived his life proud of that realization. His three girls… that's all he ever needed.

However, it wasn't so long until he lost one of his three people, and suddenly it was like he lost his way. He closed himself to the world, without realizing it, he shut himself from his other two precious things and because of his recklessness, he almost lost them as well. He soon opened his eyes and realized, he wasn't the only one who had lost so much already, so he did his very best and climbed back from his depression.

It took effort to do so… he even had to get some help from the twin bird that didn't fly away; he noticed that his absence had pushed his eldest to a role she shouldn't have ever stepped into, but it was too late to remove her entirely from it; so he did the best next thing, he slowly but surely pushed her out of it while also becoming the person she should rely onto for the next 10 years of her life. He became once again the father who had taken care of her from the beginning, but he also became her teacher, her master in the arts of battle and in a way, a friend she could count on.

He had lost so much when Summer died, but he would do everything to protect his two daughters. He always thought he would have to live the rest of his life with the two people he had left, and that would be enough for him until … the winds of winter came, the snow fell over the rose bushes, and a single unexpected blue rose appeared in the garden of life.

Taiyang was sure, somewhere in his life he had to have done something right in order to be given another chance to see a new rose in his house before his passing. Being less poetic though, he was really glad his daughter in-law had a hand into the mechanics that made such a thing possible.

And he thought about all of this because now, as he held his granddaughter in his arms, he was feeling extra nostalgic. It was like holding Ruby again, except for her eyes… the colour of her other mother's eyes. And she was looking at him alright, with an expression of curiosity. He doubted she remembered him from the times he visited his daughter in Vale, but it seemed she remembered him from the last three days she had been living in his cabin.

Being a grandfather… who would have thought it back in his Beacon days… Sure, none of his old life plans ever came into fruition (except for his badass team, that became true pretty quick), but he had loved, lost, and loved in a different way.

He was so lost in thought; he was brought back to the present when he felt little Blau's hand touching the tip of his beard.

\- "Now now! you're not gonna pull your grandad's beard, are you? Nah, you're not, are you sweetheart?" He was soon proved wrong when she closed her fist on it and pulled. It didn't hurt that bad, but at least It seemed she was somewhat amused, going by the sounds she was making.

\- "She may not look like a Xiao Long, but she seems to have a wicked sense of humor, right dad?"- Tai turned around when she heard the voice of his eldest, and sure enough, there she was…drinking a glass of water, or attempting to… what with the smile that was fighting to make it through her expressions. He rolled his eyes good naturedly and soon held his granddaughter's tiny hand in his large one and pried his beard loose.

\- "Heh, who knows? She's Ruby's kid but also a Schnee, such humor might be beneath her, as tiny as Schnees seem to be."- He didn't mean anything malicious about it, but he did manage to make Yang laugh into her glass which in turn made her choke on her water. After she was done sputtering the water, she got closer to her family with a thoughtful expression in her face.

\- "You know… Weiss told me once that her own grandfather was a big man all around, and with our genes? She might be even taller than us."- The thought of having to look up at his granddaughter to even talk to her made Taiyang grimace slightly.

\- "Ok Yang, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. She's still my tiny little rosebud, and I intent to enjoy that for many years still."- Yang chuckled for a moment and then took a few steps closer, holding out a finger of her metallic arm. As she had noticed since she arrived, little Blau seemed very curious about it, and just like the other times, reached for it with her tiny arms.

\- "You know, with how much she seems to like my arm, we may have another whiz mechanic kid in the making."- Right in cue, Blau close her tiny fist around her aunt's finger and made a cute sound at it.

\- "I guess I'll know exactly what to get her on her birthdays then. I still remember Ruby begging me to build her own tool shed when she was 8."- Yang snickered at that.

\- "Heh... you did anyways and then got mad when she would stay all day cooped up in there. I had to bodily drag her out too many times… but you know what? I always let her stay overnight the times you had the full 24 hours special classes in Signal."- Taiyang turned with a betrayed look in his face.

\- "WHAT? It's that why she was always less hyper than usual? Damnit Yang! I always thought she was getting sick or that she was sad I had to go for a full day!". - His eldest smiled but then looked downwards briefly.

\- "Well… it's what made her happy when she was feeling down."- The older dragon managed to nod at his daughter's words. Of course… she was talking about the times Yang failed to make her sister smile, so she permitted her to enjoy extra hours of her hobby.

\- "Anyways, speaking of our private mechanic… where is she?"

-"Oh! She left me in charge of the little Blau so she and Weiss could go out in a forest walk. She's leaving tonight towards Vale, something about reconstruction contracts and whatnot… so they're having a little time to themselves."- at her father's words, Yang felt a little sad that her sister in-law was leaving so soon, but at least she could have her sister and niece to herself for a few more days.

-" So, how you holding up kid? I see you're using that arm a bit more…. I can't believe you broke the first one so soon after you left."- Taiyang was smiling in a teasing manner towards his daughter, Yang just rolled her eyes for a bit.

-"I'm fine. I told you I can manage to fight with one arm, but it's easier to do other things with two, so to be honest… I've been keeping some prosthesis here and there in my trips, just in case… you know… I need a hand. Huh? Uh?"- he had seen that one coming a mile away but he still murmured quietly a curse or two in indignation. Yang laughed at his reaction and continued.

\- "Since I was gonna see my little Blau-ie again, thought it would… come in handy.".

\- "I swear that if I wasn't holding my daughter's kid, I would punch you soo hard, you would get to have your vacation in Vacuo and not here."- He saw his daughter laugh his threat but soon he recognized the fiery eyes of a good challenge.

\- "Oh, you want to bet old man? Let's have a spar when Ruby's gone. Just you and me, no fancy schmancy arm and I'll show what a badass one arm chick can do."

The old huntsman was gonna answer but the tiny hand pulling once again on his beard stopped him from doing so.

-"See? Even little Blau-ie agrees… you're going down, dad."- And then she took the little 5 months old from his arms, prying his beard from her grip while doing so.

As he looked at his eldest daughter playing with her niece, he was glad to have her back. He wasn't stupid, he knew she had many things to think about swirling in her head and (if he was right) in her heart. And they would talk soon, the best way the always had, in the middle of a spar or while making dinner together.

But for now… he was happy to have his girls home. The three girls he needed in his life, little Blau included.

0o0o0o0o0oooo0oo0o

When she woke up, the first thing she noticed was the sweet scent of her mom, enticing her to go back to sleep… along with the even heartbeats she could hear with her acute ears… but the pain in the back of her throat brought her back to the present, and the last few hours came back to the front of her mind.

She had done it. She had finally said it to someone, someone who would always listen to her without judging too harsh. Someone who would always love her, for better or for worse.

\- "Are you awake dear?"- of course she would notice she was awake, so Blake managed to nod a little in response.

\- "Good, before you do or say anything, I want to speak with you. You had your time to tell me everything, but now it's my turn to talk to you about it. So, do not interrupt me, ok?"- she took a second to answer but nodded all the same. Then, Kali shifted her body a bit so she could look her daughter in the face but still give her space to look elsewhere if she wanted. The older woman took a big breath and let it all go in a second.

\- "First of all, I love you and will always love you. I'm glad you told me all about your feelings… I would have preferred if you did it earlier but I'm glad you did."- at that, Blake shrank into herself a bit but let her continue.

\- "You are a good person Blake… you care in your own ways, but you do. You also have a great sense of justice and the spirit to pursue it in ways others can't; but if there's a flaw you have… it's that you think that you are guilty for the people who care about you. Nono, let me finish."- she added the last part when she felt her daughter squirming a bit in her arms. - "You are not this… entity of bad luck or whatever it is you have constructed in your head to justify the bad things that happen to those close to you. Bad things just happen sometimes, and sometimes we can't do anything to stop them from happening. But we can work to fix them, to do our best effort to rectify a situation. Your partner lost her arm because Adam Taurus was a soulless monster. Not because of you. She chose to protect you and I'm sure she would do it again to save your life. That's what you do when you care for someone. You would do everything you can, and she did. That's why she lost it. You couldn't stop it from happening, but you could have been there for her… at least until she woke up, you did wrong by just running away, but I understand, you were young and scared that it would happen again, I get it. And she must have got it as well, taking into consideration that your partnership continued after you left Menagerie."- Kali took a moment to read her daughter's emotions, taking her time petting her hair again to say what she needed to say.

\- "But the second time you left… you were no longer a scared teenager… you had 2 days to think it through again and again, but you left anyways. That… that was stupid, and I think that must have hurt the worst of all."- She could feel Blake's body shivering, ready to cry again. – "I love you dear, but… you did mess it all up. You are not a bad person, but you tend to take bad choices… what you did, what you are doing… it's not selfless…. Sure, I can see that you are suffering, but I'm sure she's hurting much more than you. No matter if your other friends told you she's doing ok. I'm sure she's not… not really. However, you have the power to change that."- At her mother's words, Blake shifted a bit to look at her mother's eyes. Aside from her somewhat harsh words, her eyes were as sweet as always, like honey. She was crying again, but she needed to know, if there was a way to make it better. So she opened her mouth and let a pitiful sound. Her mother tried asking not to exert herself, but Blake pushed her concerns away when she managed to say:

\- "How?"

It was sad and broken, the way she had said it, but the fact that she was willing to listen for advice was a good sign.

\- "You have to fix it now. What you did to her, no one deserves to be left behind, especially if it's not the first time. You have to talk to her, to apologize. And no, I'm not talking texting or sending forgiveness crates or nothing like that. You have to search for her, hunt her down and tell her how sorry you are, that you were an idiot for leaving the way you did. That you understand if she doesn't want to see you anymore, but that you are so so so sorry you did what you did, and that you are ready to do whatever to make it better. Because the more you don't take action, the more open the wound gets and it will never heal. You have to try Blake. You have to do it for her. If you don't get to feel better about what you did, at the very least you have to search for her and give her closure. And if you never find out how she feels for you, if she doesn't even want to be friends anymore, then that's her own choice and your punishment for doing what you did, but let her decide that in the first place. Let her have a say in it. And if she forgives you, if she takes you back in her life and gives you a third chance, you better do your very best, because it will be you last, Blake Belladonna. You have to do it… it's the only way to fix things."

Through it all, Blake had been absorbing every word, pushing her feelings of guiltiness and pain to the back of her mind. Her mother was right, she had to do it for Yang, and not for herself, not because she felt guilty or to have another shot for her feelings to be reciprocated, but because Yang deserved to know all the facts, and she wanted her to leave, she would be gone because Yang wanted her gone.

Suddenly, another thought crossed her mind. What about her duties? She was still willingly chained to the island and her responsibilities. With great effort, she managed to say:

-"But, what about Menagerie? What about the people I lead? They need me."- Kali's look froze her in the spot.

-"What is more important right now? The people you've been helping big time all these years? Or the poor girl that you left behind? We'll figure something out if we need to, I'm sure your father won't complain too much if you hand him your responsibilities for a bit... But you have to go look for her, there's no question in that."- After hearing her mother, Blake turned pensive. She was right, she knew she was… but she couldn't drop everything in a second and leave. She needed time to plan everything right, and she had to talk to Weiss as soon as she had everything looked for. She was going to make everything right, or at least… try to.

Letting a deep breath out, she finally said:

\- "Thank you, mom. Thank you for everything."- She felt her mother tighten her embrace and whisper sweetly:

\- "You don't have to thank me, dear… I'll always be here to guide you; shall you lose your path or your footing… I'll always be there to catch you."

She didn't know what time it was, but she was glad to be surrounded by her mother's warmth once again. So she relaxed her shoulders and lay there with her. Thinking ahead on what needed to be done. She would have to thank Weiss of course, even while being in another continent, she had the power to push her to spill her feelings one way or another… it was damn time she honored the promise she had made to her team all those years ago. Something big was gonna happen alright… Blake was leaving Menagerie, and going to search for Yang, no matter how long it took. She would do it for her.

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 **So, a bit of angst, resolution and good mother/father - daughter moments :) this is, afterall, not only a Romance fic but a Family one as well :) Please let me know if you liked it, reviews are always appreciated. Constructive criticism is always welcome too :) I you felt cheated of a valentines scene, don't worry, you might get something next chapter ;) thank you again guys :')**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello! Thank you so much for all the reviews, follows and favorites :) it really makes my day to read them all :D i have a surprise for you at the end notes, so don't forget to read it ;) enjoy!**

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The morning after she puked her emotions out of her system, was exactly like one would expect a hung-over to feel like. Her head hurt for all the tension that had been cooped up in there, her throat was very sore but at the very least she had regained her ability to talk; and the skin around her eyes was still sensitive after drying her tears every few seconds. All in all, she was a mess and she looked the part.

\- "Good morning Blake, are you… feeling better?"- The Chieftess of Menagerie had been so lost in her thoughts than she hadn't even heard the heavy steps of her father approaching. She was currently sitting against a wall, in the hallway of the entrance to her house; she had awoken earlier than expected and had decided to wait for her right hand to make her daily appearance at her gates. She had turned towards him and she could tell instantly that he was aware of what had transpired the day before with her mother. She knew he wouldn't pry any information unless she deemed it just, but Blake was grateful he still asked for her well-being.

\- "Hey dad, yes…I'm better now. Thank you for asking."- he nodded at her with a small smile and walked right in front of her. – "If I may… what are you doing here so early?"- the way he asked brought a tiny smile to Blake's lips. They were done being overly awkward in their interactions, but he was always respectful about the things she did.

\- "I'm just waiting for Yana to arrive. I slept a lot yesterday, so if I had to stay more time in bed it would have been too much for me. Also I realized there are many things I want to do today, so I need to do them early or today won't be enough time."- when she finished, Ghira raised an eyebrow in question. Then he did a gesture with his arm, asking without voicing it if he could sit next to his daughter. Blake responded in kind and waited for whatever he would say to her as he took his place next to her.

\- "Blake, I know you are a hard worker, but… you won't be pushing yourself too hard, right? Are you sure you are not losing your sleep in order to tack too many things at once?"- she turned to look him in the eyes, the same as hers only wiser, and she could see he was worried for her. If she looked half as bad as she imagined, then it could be easy to think she was being prey to her old bad habits again.

\- "Dad, I'm ok; I promise."- he studied her a bit further, the poor lighting of the early morning not helping his cause; but after a moment, he seemed to accept her response.

-"Ok then. Just… you can always count on us if you ever need anything. I know there might be some things that you won't feel confident to share with me, but… in any case, you can always talk to your mother."- after that, Blake was the one studying him now. All of a sudden he looked older than what she saw every day; the years and knowledge granted only by experience reflected in his golden gaze. She trusted him as well, only… she always felt a bit intimidated after what she told him 10 or so years ago, when she refused to leave the White Fang. She made a mental note to spend more time talking to her father about things other than politics and the situation of Menagerie, and placed a hand on his.

\- "Dad, I do trust you. It hasn't been easy for me to talk about my feelings lately, but I promise… I'll set up a "Ghira and Blake day" so we can catch up about everything that has happened… maybe even… about my team."- she knew she had done well when the smile that formed in his lips reached his eyes.

\- "I'll make sure to have all your favorite brands of tea ready, no sugar and I'll prepare us some tuna for the occasion."- she could feel the warmth from his words taking place in her heart. She was truly grateful she was blessed with the parents she had, so she nuzzled the side of his arm with her head and let a purr of contentment be heard.

-"Thank you, dad. You're the best."- she relaxed when she felt her father's arm embrace her and bring her closer to his side, and became even happier when she felt him respond with his own, deeper purr.

A few minutes later, he stood up and left her to tend to her own matters. She certainly had a lot to do, she had sort of taken an unofficial leave from her duties the day before and she was sure things would have piled up more if she didn't have a good person working side by side with her.

Thinking about her assistant, she was caught off guard when there was a knock on the gates. The sound echoing all over the walls; she stood up quickly and opened the gates. There she was, a bit startled to see her superior waiting for her, which was easily read by Blake when she saw the way she nervously scrunched her nose twice and her eyes seemed three times bigger than usual.

\- "Chief! I'm sorry… I didn't think I'd see you this early! Not that I'm implying anything about you sleeping too much. I mean, you can sleep as long as you want, it's just…I'm sorry, I'll shut up now."- Blake almost felt like laughing at the other woman's antics, but she saw the way her tiny black ears moved backwards and decided to let her know she wasn't mad.

\- "Don't worry Yana, I know you meant nothing by it. I should be the one apologizing though."- now it was Blake's turn to have her ears involuntary moving backwards. – "I left you hanging yesterday night. You sent me the latest reports about the construction work and the arrival of the next cargoes and I wasn't able to respond. I'm really sorry. I read them all early today and thought it would be better to respond to you in person. Forgive me for being such a lousy leader."

After she stopped talking, she realized her gaze had dropped to the ground somewhere in the middle of the conversation, so she was brought back to reality when she felt a hand in her shoulder. Yana was smiling at her now, her nose scrunching slightly as she did.

-"Everything's fine Chief. You don't need to worry about a thing like that. You are, meaning no disrespect to the former Chief, the best leader we've had in years if not the best altogether. As you have said before, there's still many things left to do, but as it is right now… Menagerie is a better place now because of the things you have managed to do… it's better for us and…"- at that, Yana made a small pause, measuring her next words until she said: - "… for any human that would choose to come here."

If Blake had been catch off-guard by her previous compliments, she was speechless by what she had said last. She was sure she was making a good impression of a fish out of water, what with her mouth opening and closing every few seconds.

\- "Wait… did you just…"- suddenly, Yana's hand fell from her shoulder and gripped the notebook she was carrying with the other in a strong manner.

\- "I… had some thinking to do yesterday. We have make all sorts of arrangements to make our people realize that there's more to life than this island and less things to fear every day that passes by. Sure… there are still some people who hates us, and yes… there are some people that are more vocal about it… but, we also have representatives in every kingdom fighting to preserve our rights, like councilor Scarlatina in Vale and councilor Wukong in Mistral… I realize that by not having humans stepping in our island out of fear is doing the same thing the humans did to us. If they would like to come by… they should… if they want to visit friends and even family… why not? Even if by some weird crazy notion, they decided they wanted to live here…. Then why should we stop them? But I'm not naïve…. At least not the way many of us have been in the past… just because I've had this realization it doesn't mean we should start doing it out of the blue. This a process that requires time and our people need to see by themselves that this is not a crazy idea. At least… not the way they might see it, and not even the way I saw it yesterday by the docks."

Blake was aghast… and thankful of her assistant's honesty. It was her this time who put both hands on Yana's shoulders to center her vision back to her.

\- "Thank you for thinking it through and considering it, Yana; I'm glad to have you here. I bet there's something we can do about these ideas soon; I didn't manage to inform you yesterday of a breakthrough we've had in our scouting party… so we should check the footage my father managed to get yesterday. But first things first. Let's go and check the construction sites, in the way I'll tell you what I think about the reports from yesterday."- now smiling at her, Yana turned around to start the long walk towards the northwest of the island.

\- "Then, let's get going Chief! I think Roogé the Builder wanted to speak with you as well about the pulley systems or something."- Blake took a second or two in order to center herself. She would start her plans to leave Menagerie in a stable situation and as quickly as possible to go searching for Yang and tell her all she deserved to know. So she sighed her problems away and got back into Chieftess mode; she nodded courteously at her assistant and started her day.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

For a few years in her life, Ruby Rose wanted to be taller. It's not that she felt jealous of Yang's tall frame or that she had trouble to reach high places or that it was easier to overlook things when you were above everyone else… ok maybe it had something to do with those things. It's just that she was always treated like a little kid, even when she was clearly not one anymore. Yang and her dad always would get away with giving her their very known extreme smothering Xiao Long hugs, like she was this tiny precious thing that they just had to squeeze the life out of. Of course… she realized later when they got Zwei that it was very apparent that when you think something is very very cute you have to asphyxiate it immediately with your arms. There was a good side too of course! Being smaller meant she was more agile, quicker and quickly able to climb anything, even her own sister when she felt like it. When she met Weiss though… she felt conflicted. Something was wrong and she couldn't find out what it was.

At first glance Weiss was slightly taller than her, but then she would soon learn that it was her footwear that gave her that advantage. So they were more or less the same height… but still… it felt wrong whenever she was looking at her. When they were reunited again however, she was pleased to know that she was noticeably taller, and she would continue to grow even more as the years passed.

When Ruby understood at last that the kind of protection and proximity she yearned for her partner was born out of love and not only friendship, she got why she felt it wrong. She wanted to be the figure that stood taller and protected her from the rain, the wind, anything that dared to come in contact with her and hurt her. She wanted to be the one to embrace her and engulf her in her warmth. She wanted to be the one she could lay unto whenever she felt tired, or sad or even happy. She just wanted to be the one to slide her arm across her shoulders and keep her close and safe for the rest of her life.

Those were the thoughts that had been randomly circling in her head without a clue as to why they were in the first place until they were reunited, fighting side by side… when they had finally revealed to the other the sadness they carried inside and had embraced for the first time with the full knowledge of all the things they had been through in their lives… Ruby knew her heart no longer belonged to her, but to Weiss instead. And she would show her, bit by bit, the ways she cared about her… not to let her know about her feelings, but to show her that she was always worthy of being loved.

She remembered the times she had wanted to take a detour in their war against Salem so she could show the man who stole her partner's family name and put it through the mud what it was to go against someone who cared about the daughter he had tormented for years. But, as Weiss always said, they had to keep moving forward in their plan, there would be time to do that later after all was said and done. She had been right of course, as Weiss tends to be. She still remembered with glee their travel back to Atlas; they were already a couple by that time and they had taken the Schnee manor back from the clutches of her father and her brother. Of course, Weiss had made sure they wouldn't storm the place and take it by force, but she had made early arrangements to get all the evidence she needed to sack them with papers and the approval of Judges, councilmen and other important people in the Kingdoms she didn't care to remember. She built a strong case against them and won.

They had made sure to… eh… assert Weiss' dominion in her property with many acts of love that still made Ruby blush in shades appropriate to her namesake. Well, acts of love and… a bit of wildness as well. She didn't notice when she started giggling to herself until the voice of her wife took her back to the present. Oh yeah… they had been walking in the forest.

\- "Should I even ask what are you thinking about now? You got very quiet in the last minute and gripped my hand very hard… then you got all red and started laughing like a mad woman."- Ruby turned to look down into her wife's eyes and remember why did she even got lost in her mental ramblings in the first place. She loved how tiny Weiss was at her side, and she loved it even more when they were alone like this. She suddenly stopped her walk and turned towards her wife fully. She could read the surprise in the icy eyes of her lover, but could also see the hunger she had seen the day before… just waiting patiently at the back of her mind.

She loved Weiss, she would never get tired of saying it, thinking it and showing it. Unfortunately, they had agreed to wait another month until she could show her properly. Whenever she got lost in her eyes, or she felt her tender caresses on her skin… like a storm or the northern colds, she would tremble… all of her in a second. Weiss was a passionate lover indeed, and it made her a bit sad that she couldn't indulge on it for a moment. Except, she could always let her know that she hungered for her too.

So she let Weiss' hand free of her grip and placed it at her lower back, her other hand snaking her way towards her jaw. She felt her soft skin beneath her fingertips and the contact only made her want her more. She took a few steps forward out of the path and lead her wife to rest her tiny frame against a tree of the many that could be found in the vast forest of Patch. Her lover's eyes widened at her actions and she could feel the pulse of the woman before her skyrocketing. Knowing how Weiss got flustered whenever she was the one to initiate things, she licked her lips slowly and dipped her head towards her. Only instead of kissing her like the CEO expected, she went for her ear.

\- "I was thinking about that time you kicked your father's ass out of your house."- she didn't even need to see the reaction that she caused in her wife. She could hear the way she was restraining her breathing, biting her lip to prevent a more provocative sound to leave her mouth. She shakily asked:

-"Ye-yeah? Why?"- Ruby grinned, she knew how hard it was to stop herself. Hell, she was doing it now; she had realized now that Weiss had placed her hands in her forearms, not pushing her but ready to do so in case they lost control. The Grim Reaper decided to make things harder for her wife and pulled herself a bit backwards to look her in the eyes as she spoke; her voice taking a lower register… full of secretive caresses and promises of love.

\- "Not really that part, but what we did that night. Room by room, floor by floor. Specially over the desk in the study. Remember?"- as she said those words, she felt the way Weiss fidgeted on the spot, her eyes darkening somehow and the way she seemed to tremble with anticipation. It only served to fuel Ruby's own desires, reliving all the details of that night and the many more they've had after that.

\- "I remember well."- the needy tone in Weiss' voice felt like soft velvet in her ears. But the way her eyes sharpened in recognition and the more neutral tone she adopted made her stop her breathing.

\- "I also remember we agreed not to do anything too exerting for you, didn't we?."- She felt a bit guilty now, and it sure showed when she stepped back a bit, letting Weiss still leaning on the tree but close enough to take another step and kiss her. She could see that her eyes were clearer now, and a bit upset at her. Ruby felt like she was shrinking into herself, like when she was younger, under the scrutiny of her wife.

\- "Uh... yeah, but! You were looking extra beautiful and I just couldn't help myself. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have."- Weiss took that opportunity to raise her hand towards Ruby's side braid and pulled on it a little. If anything, Ruby letting her hair grow out and braiding it made it possible to keep her in line by doing as she was doing it now. It was meant to keep her attention in place, what with the way she got distracted easily, but it could always turn playful in other contexts.

-"Ruby Rose. You should never apologize for showing affection… also I kind of did the same to you yesterday so I can't well be complaining a lot now, can I?"- Weiss left her braid fall back to its position and placed that hand on Ruby's cheek. Ruby could see the way Weiss eyed her lips and felt that surge of affection run through her again.

\- "I'm gonna miss you, Weiss."- Weiss was a bit surprised at her words.

\- "Why? You're going back home in three days."-

\- "Yes, but I'm always missing you. Even in the same city, in the same building… even in the same room. If you are not in my arms… I'm always missing you."- Ruby saw the way Weiss' expression softened, any confusion melted away and in its place, there was only love. She meant every word, and she knew Weiss knew as well.

\- "You are the best thing that could have ever happened to me."- after saying that, the one with the blue eyes closed the distance, guiding her with the palm still on her cheek and gave her a chaste and pure kiss, the kind that made Ruby forget where she was and dissipated everything else in a curtain of fog.

Or it would have if it wasn't for the sound of something hitting the ground somewhere to their right. True to their profession, they stood alert and ready. Both reaching for their weapons only to remember that Crescent Rose and Myrtenaster were leaning against a wall in their room back at the cabin. And the reason of that was because they were in a secure area, near to the Xiao Long residence.

\- "What was that?"- Weiss's tone carried a little worry on it, but when Ruby signaled for her to approach it together, she did without hesitation.

Seeing the way it had hit the ground and skidded a few meters, it should be easy to find. But it wasn't until the object shone when the light hit it, that they found it. And when they did, Ruby was confused and curious as to why her wife groaned so loud.

-"Really? She's playing that game again?"-

-" Uhmmm, Weiss? Why did my sister's arm fell from the sky?"- The way Weiss was facepalming made her wonder with did she miss

\- "She's playing fetch with Zwei."-

\- "Oh! Cool, I didn't know that was a thing."- at her wife's words, Weiss dropped her hand and got closer to her. She looked upwards in a questioning manner, wondering how could this be a normal thing.

\- "Cool? What if it had dropped on us? She must know by now that we left in this direction! Also, aren't you worried she's ruining another prosthesis? Those are by no means cheap!"- Ruby made humming noise as she crossed her arms and looked at said object.

\- "Not really, this one is a non-combat model, so it's way cheaper. Also I know for a fact that she has a small collection of different prosthesis so it's no big deal. She fights mostly without one but if she feels like it or the enemy is worth it, she always carries at least one with her."- the way she said it so nonchalantly made Weiss raise an eyebrow.

\- "And you're sure she is safe doing that? How?"- Ruby shrugged slightly and said.

\- "Whenever she breaks one, she keeps the pieces and makes something better. I've seen the pieces of her first one. The wrist had a 360° ball joint, with no guard towards the back, it was bound to break eventually, even with her aura. But she kept it, and every other model that has broken on her…and when she has enough pieces, she tries something different. We may be half-sisters, but she knows her mechanics too. Specially going alone on missions, she knows what she's doing."- Ruby could see Weiss was more than a bit impressed with what she had said and remembered that just because they had been a team again briefly during the war, it didn't mean that Weiss knew the details of after the war. They didn't see each other for months at times, but they kept in touch as much as possible, and some of those calls lasts longer than necessary whenever Ruby asked to see her latest acquisitions and how they worked.

\- "Still, she shouldn't be throwing them without a care in the world. The fact stands that it could have landed on us."- Weiss was crossing her arms now, a bit upset at it. But after being with her for so long, Ruby could read her better than that.

\- "The fact is that you're mad we got interrupted."- the little humph of indignation that came from her wife, told her all she needed to know. She sighed slowly and approached her again, she suavely put her arm across her petite wife and said.

\- "Come on Weiss, we still have a few hours left before you leave."- Weiss put one hand on Ruby's back and used her other one to link it with Ruby's hand on her shoulder.

\- "Wait, what about…?"- She turned a little to look at where the metal arm had fallen. Ruby moved her head horizontally to indicate a negative and said:

-"Don't worry about it. You said it yourself… It's a game of fetch. Zwei will arrive any moment now and I think I should steal you away before he bewitches you with his chubby cuteness."- at that, Weiss blushed slightly and with a small noise of complaint, she muttered:

\- "I do not!"- It was so cute Ruby couldn't contain her giggles.

\- "You are soooo adorable!"- Weiss stopped and turning slightly, she kissed her wife on the cheek. With a look love, the pair kept walking side by side.

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 **Thank you for reading guys! :D i hope you liked it :) tell me what you thought of it ;) anyways! i wanted to let you know that i'm doing reference sheets for the main characters and posting them on my tumblr. I've linked the two first characters in my profile :) i will eventually start making illustrations for this fic after i'm done for the sheets :) so be on the lookout if you're interested :) of course, i'll be making regular canon fanart as well xD if you have any question, you can always let me know in a review or PM me if you're shy :) thank you again guys!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! I'm sor sorry it took me this long to post an update Dx i had some things going on in my life, you can see that in my tumblr... you can also see the new reference sheet i drew for Weiss now along with ruby and yang :) , right there in my tumblr, all the info is in my profile page :) Anyways, i wrote a longer chapter just for you guys :D i hope you like it :) don't forget to let me know if you have any questions about it or any contructive criticism. Enjoy!**

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There are moments during the day where no matter how hard you try, there's nothing to do around the house. Not even menial tasks like cleaning or rearranging furniture or anything of the sort.

Her father was out, in a quiet and calm walk with Zwei. Weiss had left the previous night and Ruby was napping with her precious child. She had tried of course, to find anything to do, but sometimes the bad memories would sour whatever enjoyment she got out doing things around the house. She had gone to the old shed, the one she used to store her Bumblebee and remembered that it was currently across the sea, in a cheap garage in Vale, waiting for her return. She had wanted to do a calm visit to her father's house; so that had ruled out her fast baby immediately. The bad news was, that she couldn't take her out for a ride to keep herself occupied for the moment.

She tried tinkering with the standard prosthesis but there wasn't much to do with it unless she broke it on purpose; but of course, there wasn't any point on doing that considering she still needed it to take care of baby Blau-ie. Well, it's not that she absolutely needed it, but the way Weiss had reminded her of how much it costed before leaving Patch told her it wouldn't be Weiss to do so… She laughed at her own mental joke but it was short-lived. Then again, she had enough money saved to buy at least 3 more of those and another battle one, but there was no need for that. She had enough as it was.

There was another reason for her not to tinker with the arm… most of the pieces she had saved from older models that were not customized in new ones where scattered in 3 different safe houses, one in each kingdom. So there wouldn't really be a reason to do so. She had one of her custom models safe in her travel bag, just in case… but that one was good enough to even try to add anything from a non-battle model. It would be a waste of time to even try.

There was no one currently to talk to in the cabin, and she was avoiding staying in the guest room because of the time she had spent there after the Fall. After Weiss left, Ruby offered her to go back to the room they used to share as kids, to maybe even stay closer to Blau… but she had declined. As much fun as it would be to be together again and with her niece included, she felt like she was intruding a bit on their Mother-daughter time. Blau-ie wouldn't be a small baby for long, and her sister needed to cherish those moments before they were long gone.

There wasn't anything else of interest in that room that wouldn't bring her bittersweet memories. She still had all her books in her shelf, waiting for someone to open them up or carry them around… like when she did as a child. She used to read them to Ruby every night, had to become a better narrator, had to learn the meaning of words she didn't know so she could explain them to her baby sister when she would undoubtedly ask… not good memories, or at least… not totally good.

So that left her with nothing else to do other than to stay on her mind. Which she knew, was a bad idea. She had thrown herself into her work for a reason. Had decided to tumble her way around Remnant like a leaf in the wind for a reason; and that reason was threatening to invade her mind again and throw her for a loop.

It wasn't all bad, of course. But it didn't hurt any less, if she was honest with herself.

She only permitted herself to think about Her whenever she was sure she wasn't alone, and thus… had to keep appearances that everything was absolutely fine. She didn't want to cry again… she did plenty of that for so long that she doubted she even could spare any more tears… Back there, when…

Yang squeezed her knee with her right hand enough to feel pain, just to remind herself that there was more around her than the thoughts of the past. The cold feeling of remembrance tried to take a hold of her, but she had been through so much already, that she knew how to deviate her attention away from it.

She looked around and took notice of a few things. Her father had re-decorated the living room; the walls had a renewed clear-coating on them, and the couch she was currently sitting on had been moved a bit closer to the holo-projector. A clear sign that her father's sight was slowly starting to worsen.

Now there was a solution for her situation, just turn on the news or something. There was bound to be something to distract her, right? To be honest, it had been a long while since Yang had bothered to watch any new series or reality. It was dumb content for the people who had never ventured out of the safety of their homes and didn't know the price of keeping the safety of the kingdoms intact. Or at least it had been that way before the world went to hell after the Vytal Festival, and her uncle Qrow loved to describe that particular kind of entertainment as such.

She had seen him briefly, when she had been Huntressing in Mantle a year or so ago. After what happened to him, he had to take it easy on his job. He was a full time teacher now, of the new Atlas Academy. It was funny to think about how much he had hated the way they used to handle their students back then… now he was one of the people in charge, and it seemed like they were a bit more laidback in the whole indoctrination thing they used to do. After all, with Ironwood gone and the asshats that used to run Atlas had been removed with allegations of corruption and other crimes committed along with the former CEO of the SDC, there was more room to breathe freely.

She had only seen him when she was leaving the building where one Winter Schnee, now a high ranking officer of the militia, had invited her to a small reunion. They had talked about the dwindling numbers of Grim and how the balance of less androids in that field played along that notion nicely. They were not changing overnight, but they were trying. The meeting had lasted an hour at best, they got along nicely when they had been in Mistral all those years ago and apparently Weiss had told her good things about her. When she left the building, she had seen her uncle. Walking in that way he always used to, half lazy and half I don't give a damn about anything. Only she could also see, he was limping a little bit. Yang had debated internally if she should get his attention, but she realized he would have been embarrassed to be caught visiting his "arch nemesis" as he used to put it. Nowadays, she messaged her uncle once or twice a month, to know how he was doing.

As she was pondering all this, she had managed to get a hold of the remote control for the holo-projector and turned it on. As she suspected, there wasn't much going on, so she just stopped channel surfing when she found the news section. There was the eternal Lisa Lavender, talking about the renovations contracts in Vale. For some weird reason, it seemed like that woman would never age… she looked exactly the same as she used to when she started attending Beacon Academy. Yang suspected that with her lack of sleep, she would begin looking older than the news anchor.

Yang put the remote down in the coffee table in front of her and laid back on the couch with a sigh. She was wearing her non-duty clothes minus the duster. It was a simple ensemble but it was comfy enough to just relax for a moment. She was aware that she had spent far too much time in her Huntress outfit, and as cool as it looked on her, a few pieces of it were a bit restricting.

Focusing back on the screen, she realized that the ageless news anchor was talking now about the contracts and renovations that had been possible because of Weiss' intervention. And soon enough, they were showing footage of Weiss shaking hands with some Anima based suppliers sometime that morning. She was smiling slightly for the cameras, but Yang knew that was her business smile. It wasn't completely fake, she knew she must have been happy to help close a deal that would benefit Vale… but that smile got nothing on her real ones, like the ones Yang had seen directed at her sister and niece, and them only.

After that bit, they made a small recounting of some of Weiss' accomplishments as Vale's Mediator; a title created after the trust of the people had been at an all-time low long after the Fall and what had happened. They trusted Weiss because she had proved that she stood for Vale when they needed it most, starting with the small renovations and being reminded that she had fought for them at the Breach of the Grim and the night Beacon fell. She was an excellent diplomat of sorts between Atlas and Vale at first, and somehow managed to spread this trust towards other places. Weiss had told her once about her grandfather, and how he personally saw to every business from beginning to the end, until there was only a satisfied customer in sight. Whether it was people or a kingdom, she tried to do the same.

She was proud of Weiss, she had done well after the war with what she had, and had managed to build onto it. Apparently the news channel thought it as well, because they were really going into showing the many treaties and contracts that Weiss had won over.

Yang's mind was so focused on watching Weiss' business smile in each video and photograph that she was caught off guard when white hair and icy eyes were replaced by black hair and golden sharp eyes with black cat ears on display. If there was any way to describe it… Yang felt like she was plummeting to the ground at neck-breaking speeds. She felt like her stomach was sinking, like she had been thrown against another bridge pillar… her heart stopped for a second and re-started itself, creating a fast rhythm… faster than anything else.

She had seen photos of course, here and there when she became Chieftess, but none of them captured the way her eyes shimmered in the light, how soft the fur on her ears looked, how black her hair was. How impossibly beautiful she was… her mind had stopped thinking but her ears caught what was going on in the report. They had been talking about some deal the SDC and Menagerie had managed to hold against everyone's expectation, and that lead them to talk about Blake's doings in the island.

Yang was speechless, but soon enough she felt them again… hot tears at the edge of her vision… the tears that told more things that she would ever lead on. She fought it for a second, but was soon thrown back to that time… that endless moment where all her plans had to be scrapped and remade all over again. That moment where she was stunned into silent by the one person she thought she would share her life with, only to be told that she was gonna do her own thing, apart from her.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

She had been brimming with happiness after the Salem trials. Her name, image and honor that had been blemished in a worldwide seen event, were finally free of all charges. She could walk free of guilt anywhere without feeling like the worst any time someone would make a comment on her reputation. She could finally breathe without that weight on her back, she was free of those chains at last. All thanks to the one who had a hand in framing her and starting the hell that had mortified her for the longest time. She could walk Remnant free of uncommitted sins. Her whole team had been there to support her, they had celebrated at last and parted ways for a little while so Weiss could go back to Atlas and kick her horrible father out of her house. Yang had been so happy after so long of being accepting of her fate that she had failed to notice that something was wrong and that it would only get worse from there.

A huntress team could remain together as long as they desired, they could also break lines and work in pairs if that was convenient for them too, and even if they desired to work solo… they could always get together again. Yang knew all this since she was a child, and when she pictured her future she knew she would try to keep her team together as long as she could. She had seen the actual remnants of a broken team reflected in her own family, so if she were to ever work alone, it had to be for some really strong reasons. So after they got together and won the war, after she had managed to patch things with Blake and had been living all together again, she knew she was right. There was nothing that could compare to the camaraderie and feeling of someone watching your back as you watched theirs. Yang had worked hard to let Blake know that she didn't blame her for her missing arm, only that she resented that she left without even saying why. And Blake had seemed to understand that at the moment… Yang had started feeling good again, together with her partner… fighting side by side, living together, planning their next job…. Even planning what they would do after the trials, when they knew that Ruby and Weiss would be gone. They had their eyes set on a few options already when they had seen the mission boards… but they had waited to choose after the trials were done in case they extended longer than expected.

She would be lying to herself if she said she had stopped caring for Blake at any time during her darkest hours. But to be reunited, living in the same space as her… Yang was hit with emotions she thought had been kept away from her. She loved Blake, she loved her for a long time, longer that she probably even acknowledged it. She loved her so much, she had started making plans for a future together, partners in the battlefield and partners in life. She had a feeling that Blake felt the same towards her… she could feel it in the ways she hugged her back, in the way she said her name… the way she looked at her when she said a stupid joke, even the way Blake got sad whenever she would be reminded of how she had left her behind out of concern for her safety. She just knew it. She knew Blake felt similar towards her and she was going to try and start living to the fullest, after her honor had been restored.

The day Blake had asked to go for a walk at the park felt like the perfect opportunity to start their life together, in a sort of date like environment, that Yang took her expression as nervousness for what she was going to say to her that she didn't even think it could be anything else. She had been so happy, so eager to hear her say anything about their future together… that she didn't take the way she moved so stiffly as a bad sign, the way she had turned to look at her without really looking as a red alert. That her asking her about a conversation they had when they were still students was a weird way to talk about the future.

She felt her world turn around in a few sentences and quicker than she could comprehend. She was stunned, she didn't get it. What even happened? Why was this happening? Why was Blake still talking nonsense? Why was she telling her this? What did she do wrong?

She couldn't stop the tears from cornering in her eyes, but she held herself to be even able to respond. She wanted to question her, she wanted to tell her about all the amazing things she had planned for the both of them. She wanted to let her know how she felt about her. Yang wanted to tell Blake how much she loved her and how much this was killing her, but instead… she thought how maybe she had jumped to conclusions, how she had selfishly planned for a life that she wasn't going to have, because she forgot that there was a chance that Blake felt differently, that maybe she even didn't want to stick with her as a huntress. That they had dreams they had said they wanted to fulfill, dreams they had shared in an empty building, empty like the way she felt at the moment.

Yang had forgotten for a moment something she learned early in her life. No matter how much you don't want it to be true, everybody leaves eventually. Leaves Her specifically. At least, this time around, Blake had bothered to let her know that she was leaving, and for some pretty good damn reasons apparently.

Yang was reminded then, that Blake wanted to do good by her people, that she wanted to make things right, that her dreams involved the fate of many people and that she would fight for it in any way she could. Staying around defending people from the Grim wasn't exactly a fight for equality. That her own goals hadn't been clear back then and even now, she was only certain she wanted to protect those dear to her and the people that needed her… and apparently, Blake didn't need her at the moment.

She had heard her when she said they would reunite again, when she was done fighting for the justice her people deserved. She had a small inkling of hope to hung onto, but it wouldn't be fair to say to her anything else of what she did. She asked her to stay safe, to go for her dreams and to have a good trip. Even if every fiber of her body fought her, she said those words to her. She let her go freely, for she truly was. Blake was bound to Yang because they were partners in the Academy, and they had fought side by side, and they were friends, but in reality… she was not bound to her by anything stronger than that.

She permitted herself to do something though… she managed to hug her one last time, even if Blake seemed really eager to go away. She hugged her with all she had, conflicted emotions flying through her. She wanted to hold her there forever, to never let her go, but it wouldn't be fair to stop her from manifesting her dreams. Long ago, there was another stubborn blond idiot like herself who tried to make the woman he loved stay with him; but even forced by her circumstances… the black haired woman had left him behind and her new born child to do what she thought was right. She didn't want to loose her forever by forcing her to stay, so she slowly let her go, planted her gaze towards the ground and bid her goodbye one last time.

She couldn't bear the idea of watching her as she got smaller and smaller in her field of vision, only to disappear completely and be left with nothing.

So she stayed there, on that park bench, just thinking about anything and nothing at the same time. If she moved, she felt she might go running after her; and she didn't want to go back to the place they had been staying at for the trials. She would be gone, her things, any trace that she had been there at all…gone.

She remembered she stayed there quietly for a while, until the feeling of lost love won her over and she finally started crying. She was shaking all over, the tears falling down her face, the knot at her throat clawing at her from inside, she couldn't hold it anymore. She bawled like a child… and she was back again… at that dark place in her heart… in her memories. She was alone, there wasn't a reason to hold herself to look like everything was right in the world, there was no one to see her becoming a crying mess. A stupid child that made plans for something that would never happen. It was over, she was burning out all over again.

She didn't know how long she had been there or how many people had stopped and stared at her. She didn't care anymore what anyone thought. She was done with everything.

Until she heard it, the sound of wings approaching her. A myriad of things managed to pass through her head. As she thought on it and managed to look at it, there was a black shadow coming for her. For a second, a dumb second, she thought it might be her mother, or maybe even her uncle. But then she realized, she had attracted a small nevermore. She was attracting grim to a place that was barren of them; her negativity was winning her over and she was putting in danger the people around her.

She clicked Ember Celica into place, and delivered a left jab just in time to catch the small nevermore with a well-placed dust bullet. She couldn't allow this to happen again. She didn't want to go back to the way she had been all those other times. So as she saw the mangled pieces of the grim before her, evaporate into thin air, she took a decision.

She dried her tears with her right sleeve, the longitude of her severed arm enough to do such a task, and turned to leave. She went back to the place where her belongings where, she tried to avoid looking at where Blake's things had been. She talked with the person in charge of the place and paid for that last day; after that she went to the place she had kept Bumblebee at, put all her belongings on her bike, put on her riding prosthesis, got on her motorcycle and drove out of town. She would ride nonstop until she found the next tower connection, so she could look at the mission board and just get on with her life.

She had a job to do after all, with a partner or alone, she had to keep the people safe, she just had to keep moving forward, rearrange her life to adapt to her new reality. It wasn't the first time she had to do so, so she knew that she had to move quickly, stop herself from feeling the way she was as long as she was able, because if she allowed herself to feel, it wouldn't be good at all.

When she got a few days later to the next tower spot, she chose a new mission, far away from all the places she had been looking at with Blake, she couldn't do those missions, not with the way she felt… she would only make it worse and attract even more Grim. So instead she chose a simple escorting mission for a caravan in Vacuo. When she finally decided to make a stop to rest in an old inn… she finally broke and cried her heart out.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0

All the memories of that time had gotten to her, reminded her of the rushed decisions she had taken, of how she had pushed her pain to the side, how she had put her feelings for Blake on hold, indefinitely. And now, a simple video had defeated her once again.

In the screen, Blake was making a speech of sorts in what appeared to be the tropical plaza of Menagerie, it was an archived video of a Faunus reporter. The news anchor was talking over the real audio so Yang had no idea what she was saying. But the way she looked… she was stunning and beautiful and seemingly untouched by her sorrows. She was talking to a crowd, with a calm expression in her face, gesturing from time to time for emphasis. She truly looked like a leader, like someone you could trust on to lead you to better things. Yang felt conflicted by that picture. If she was doing fine as she seemed to be on that video, If the things she was doing were good for her people, for Remnant in general… was it worthy all that pain? Was it worthy that Yang had to suffer for it? Was the pain of one individual worth of the happiness of many? Perhaps it was so… perhaps Yang had been too selfish for too long, too self-centered to see the real result before her.

The broadcast about that portion of politics was about to end, and the final picture was that of the long gone team RWBY, after the war ended, when they had been bleeding, dirty and completely exhausted, but happy to be victorious and most of all… finally together.

Despite the tears, Yang couldn't help but smile at it… it had been beautiful, sadly… it didn't' last for long, like many things in life.

She managed to keep her emotions in check after seeing that picture… It's true that Blake was at fault for a few things, like suddenly taking the decision to leave and not talking to her team for the longest time. She must have had her reasons for not contacting her at all… maybe she was waiting for that time, where her fight was finally over. Or maybe she had seen through Yang's efforts to appear unaffected that damned day at the park, and had decided to stay away for those reasons.

Either way, Yang did miss her and she did care for her. Only she wasn't sure how she would react if she had her in front of her… just like that other time Mistral, that had been awkward as all hell.

She tried really hard not to compare her to some degree to the other black haired woman that had decided to part ways with her… but sometimes it was impossible not to. Still, Blake did tell her, albeit with such a short notice… and she wasn't the leader of a group of criminals who didn't care about anything other than strength to survive above others… she was the leader of an oppressed group who was making the world a better place by being the central piece of all co-operations and treaties…. Yang did read the papers from time to time.

Suddenly, a loud cry echoed all over the cabin and threw Yang out of her thoughts. She raised her right arm towards her face and checked her reflection in the polished metal. She looked like she hadn't slept well in a while, but there wasn't any sign of tears anymore… Yang thought that surely it must be a sign of emotional progress of some kind.

Nodding to herself, she stood up, took the remote from the coffee table and turned the holo-projector off. She cracked her neck a bit and went in the search of her sister and crying niece. The image of Chieftess Blake fresh in her mind, but put away to think about it some other time.

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 **I hope that wasn't too angsty for you guys xD let me know if you liked it in a review ;) they make my day :D also don't forget to check the reference sheets and let me know your thoughts on them xD Thanks for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys! Thank you all for keeping up with this fanfic :) it truly makes me happy that you're still enjoying it :) Remember to let me know how you feel about the chapter so I can have a better understanding of how I'm doing. Reviews make me very happy. At the time I'll publish this chapter, Blake's sheet reference should be on my tumblr (you can get there by following the instructions on my profile page here), and after that I have free reign to illustrate all my favorite parts of this story :) Also I want to publicly thank fluffly-butcher on tumblr for drawing me a tiny baby Blau :) It made my day. You can also see it if you go to my tumblr. She's soo cute :3**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter guys. Let me know ;)**

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It had been a very long day, but thankfully enough, it was closing to an end soon. Blake Belladonna was overseeing a great map of Menagerie in the company of her father and her assistant in one of the big rooms of her residence; close to one of the corners of said room, was the Desert Scout 2.0 that had been brought to the latest Scouting mission by her dad. It was idly propped to the side, with one of its panels open and connected by a few wires to the holo projector in the room. It was paused close to the end of the recorded footage; it appeared like it had traveled through a little bit of jungle if the leaves stuck in the mechanical claws were any indication and it seemed to be recording the scouting party a few long ways away, from an angle they weren't looking at.

They had been mapping the route it had taken comparing the coordinates with the piece of cartography they had. It was a very old map, made some time after they had been "given" the island. It wasn't perfect but it would do its part more or less; the only problem they had was with the way the geography of the southern end had been drawn. It didn't quite meet with the reality recorded by the scouting machine but it was kind of understandable. As far as it was known, the Faunus that had recorded the information and drawn the map had been weak and ill when they had returned, whoever it had been. Only a weak signature was left, and it wasn't easy to decipher, they had passed away after that. If Blake had a theory of why it was that way, it would probably had been that the trip was the perfect context for being exposed to many great dangers in an unknown territory. The cartographer had probably gotten ill out of hunger or being too exposed to the sun or had a terrible encounter with its wildlife. It would certainly explain why the southern part of the island was not drawn correctly. As far as they had known, it could have been imagined as such shape and drawn that way as a result.

History and Geography altering facts apart, they had managed to trace the route of the scouting party as best as they could with what they had. It certainly would come in handy whenever they were ready to make the trip to investigate further. The 3 of them were hunched over the table were the map sat, her father was tracing with his finger the path his party had taken to cross the many deserts, apparently lost in thought. Yana was scribbling some notes in her ever present notebook, checking every few second to confirm something, and Blake was resting both hands on the edges of the table, tracing with her eyes what could bring many joys to her people and open more opportunities to everyone.

\- "You guys are doing fine? Would you like some juice?"- The three of them raised their heads and were met with Kali Belladonna, bringing a tray with what appeared to be orange juice in glasses.

\- "Thank you Mrs. Belladonna."- Said Yana as she finally put her notebook down and took a few steps towards the older Faunus to get a glass from the tray.

\- "We are great dear, thank you. And yes, some juice would be nice"- Ghira also stepped away from the map and went to grab a drink as well, pecking his wife's forehead as he did.

\- "I'm ok mom. Maybe later. I think I'm going to rewind a bit of this part and re-check the coordinates with it."- The Chieftess of Menagerie grabbed the remote control that was near the projector and did as she said; Kali just sighed and smiled at her daughter's antics. She suspected that if it had been tea, she would have taken her offer to rest a bit; then again, it was very important what they had been doing.

\- "Sure sweetheart, I'll leave you a glass in the fridge. How's work?".

\- "We got a few corrections here and there on the map, but we sort of expected that to happen, considering how old it is and what happened to the author; other than that, we will have to plan ahead of how are we going to tackle this situation. Just because dad's party got lucky doesn't mean we won't run into some problems. We agreed that maybe we should bring our 3 Desert Scouter's and cover a bigger area this time, but there's the chance that the party could run into something. Just because we haven't seen any Grim there so far doesn't mean there are not any."- Ghira nodded his head at his daughter's words, the guinea pig Faunus got back to her notes as she said:

\- "If I may Chief, there's also the fact that we would need more supplies for a bigger party to investigate, and more people of course. We have yet to see what kind of vegetation grows there and how different or similar it is to the known parts of this Island. The party could sustain themselves with what they would find there, but if they only find new kinds of fruits, poison is something we have to take into account."- Now it was Blake who nodded at her assistant, running numbers and possibilities as she spoke.

\- "And I'm not sure myself if the people I went with on my last trip will want to go back there. It was a pretty reckless thing to do, and we are not quite prepared to all the possibilities of what we may find. It would take a professional adventurer to get there without any fear and just deal with whatever it is that is out there. Hopefully, as we have discussed this among ourselves, this new information has to be brought to the public so we can decide on what exactly to do with it. As I said, we may actually need more help than what we have at the moment; and it seems Blake has stabilized our economy to a degree that may inspire the people to collaborate with our ideas."

The way he talked at the end, Blake could feel how proud he was of her. So she shrank a bit on herself and kept fidgeting with the remote, checking the coordinates for the last time.

\- "So all in all, it seems everything it's going great. Good job you three! I'm going to go leave that glass of juice now, don't forget it Blake!"- The younger cat Faunus nodded at her mother and finally turned off the footage of the machine. She turned to look at her father and her assistant and could see how tired they looked after being checking and re-checking everything they could.

\- "Well guys, this a great step for all! I think is time we all go get some rest now. Thank you both for helping out."- Both Faunus said words of agreement and started tidying up a bit around the table, then Blake remembered something.

\- "Hey dad, ehh do you think Thursday is good for that thing I wanted to set for us?"- Ghira seemed dubious for a moment until he remembered his conversation with his daughter on the main hall.

\- "Yes Blake, Thursday sounds pretty good actually, I'll go early to the market and re-stock on tuna."- Blake tried not to think too much on her father's excellent fried tuna and just hummed her agreement, then she turned to her assistant and said:

\- "Please Yana, set this Thursday's afternoon as busy in my schedule, if something comes up, let me know so we can re-schedule whatever that thing is."- Yana smiled at her and took note of what Blake had said.

\- "Done Chief, also… Mr. Belladonna, your Grace. May I suggest trying cooking the tuna some other time with lemon juice? It's very good! My family has been keeping that recipe since long before the great war, It's really delicious."- Ghira just laughed good-naturedly and said.

\- "Sure, Miss Cuy; I'll try it some time. Give my regards to your parents."- She nodded at both of them and after bidding them goodbye, she left the room.

\- "Well Blake, it really has been a long night, hasn't it? I'll finish tidying up the place, It's fine time you actually go rest. I know you've been out all day so I'm sure you're missing your cat nap."- Blake sighed slightly.

\- "Just because you are a dad, doesn't mean you should start making dad jokes. It's weird coming from you."- Ghira laughed again and kept of disconnecting the cables from the holo-projector. Blake got closer and nuzzled his arm with her head.

\- "Thank you for everything. Goodnight, dad, you're the best."-her father turned around and placed a kiss on his daughter's head, right between her ears.

-"You're welcome Blake. Have a good night."- and then Chieftess of Menagerie left the room at last.

She cracked her neck a few times as she walked down the hall, walking a bit slow as she reflected on the day. They had to set a date soon to talk to the people, the small plaza would do nicely for that but she worried about the reaction of the citizens. New apparently fertile lands to explore on their own island? That's a great opportunity, she was sure that part would be fine. It was the idea of what they could do with it that got her a bit nervous. She was sure that humans wouldn't go flooding into their Island, as soon as they got everything straight with the lands and the wildlife, but she wasn't sure if her people would agree to break the unsaid rule of no humans on Menagerie. But, they had to take baby steps for it, otherwise it wouldn't help matters of equality if their Island was closed to a specific group of people.

She realized she was standing in front of her own room now, somehow lost in her own mind thinking about what ifs and her duties. She opened the door and softly closed it behind her as she entered. She started taking off her armor and mantle of Chieftess when she noticed the glass of orange juice on her night desk, she smiled softly at it as she noticed the note resting beside it. She got closer and took it in her hand, noticing the familiar handwriting. It read "I knew you'd forget it. Sweet dreams, my kitten."; Blake couldn't help the warmth that spread through her. She truly was lucky to have the parents she had. She drank it all, in one go; swiftly savoring the mix of sweet and acid travelling down her throat. When she was done, she continued to change into her pajamas, too exhausted to do anything else. Until she started thinking back to what needed to be done regarding her personal issues. Time to shed the Chieftess off and go back to being plain old Blake, where it was high time she took matters into her own hands.

She needed to talk to Yang, no… she needed to go look for Yang and apologize and tell how much she actually cared for her. Tell her how she was sorry for leaving her so abruptly, tell her that she wasn't on her right mind when she decided to leave; tell her how they should have talked long and hard about the first time she left and dealt with it while being in the right mindset, not hastily and rushed as they had been warring against Salem's forces. Tell her how she told herself that it was for the best if she left, how she had been wrong about many things. And just apologize deeply. But she also wanted to let Yang choose if she wanted to hear what she had to say. She didn't want to impose all she had in her heart and mind on her if she didn't want to hear it. She would deal with the consequences if Yang said she didn't want to see her anymore, but some hopeful part of her told her that Yang might stay around to learn the real reasons as to why she left.

Blake sighed as she was done changing. She took her scroll in hand and laid on her bed for a bit, thinking some more into what needed to be done.

She would have to leave to wherever Yang would be. Weiss said she was visiting Patch at the moment but that meant she could be leaving long before Blake got there. She would have to talk to Weiss too, she had left her hanging long enough on her texts. She was ready to talk to her until she remembered something. There was also the fact that she was Chieftess of Menagerie, leaving her duties for something that was personal wouldn't be approved by anyone… she would have to think about something, perhaps her father could help in that regard… She thought that maybe if she said she was leaving to talk to Menagerie's business partners or something of the like, it wouldn't seem like she was abandoning her duties. Then again, seeing Yang after all that had happened would be worth it. It was a tricky situation to say the least, but she would try… not for her, never for her… but for Yang's sake.

She tried not to think about how many things could go wrong, but the memory of a teary eyed Yang, alone in a park bench was enough to convince her that she had to do it no matter the cost. She had worked so hard for equality, and the good of the Faunus of Menagerie and the world that she thought she could do this one thing, for a human she cared deeply for.

The hard and hasty beatings of her tired heart corrected her, it was more than just caring, she did love her… deeply, she hoped she could fix somehow their situation, but in the end… just seeing her happy for once, would do it for her. After all the pain of the past, Yang deserved to be happy, with her or without her in the picture; but she would let her choose this time; not just take herself out of the equation.

She sighed for what it felt like the thousand time that night, and grabbed her scroll tight. Time to face the music, or well…time to face Weiss actually. She brought it close to her line of vision and looked for her correspondence, the first thing she saw when she entered into her conversation with Weiss, was the small thumb of the picture the white haired woman had sent to her, followed by two words. It had been only a few days, but it had felt like weeks to Blake. She opened the picture open by pressing it with her index, and she saw the full image again. There she was, her partner. The one who burned brighter than the sun in any way possible, the one who had helped her so much and the one she had left behind too many times already. She traced her features with her eyes, drinking in every possible detail. The way she was smiling at the camera, the caring way she held her niece in her arms, the unruly hair all around her and those lilac eyes, full of emotion. Blake felt her heart breaking all over again, over the bad choices of the past that had piled one after the other; but she wasn't going to run this time. She was done running away, if anything, the only direction she would go running to was wherever in the world Yang would be when the time was right. But for now… there was only one thing to do.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Weiss Schnee was cleaning up her kitchen when she heard the sound of an incoming message. Normally, she would go and at least check out who had sent it; but the one person she wanted to talk to had already said goodbye to her over the scroll a few hours ago. Truth to be told, Weiss couldn't wait for her wife's visit to be over and just come back home. She understood on some level her reasons for being away, but she missed Ruby and Blau dearly. The last few days had been torture to say the least; the duplex they owned in the rebuilt side of Vale was as cozy as Ruby had left it; but it felt so much bigger and empty because her two roses were away. She could hear the echoes of her footwear wherever she went, and it reminded her of the manor she had left behind. The echo that can only be heard when you feel lonely, and Weiss had lots of experience regarding that emotion. The duplex wasn't what anyone would have thought the CEO of an important company would acquire for living or even raising a family. It wasn't tiny by any means of the word, but it was not the humongous property everyone expected. Just a two story apartment somewhere nice, close to where she worked in the Vale Council, the department of external affairs and some other places of the like. It was close enough that she could go back as early as possible and help her wife with whatever she needed. That and to see them of course. She loved her family with all she had and more. Which is why she felt so sad to go back to an empty house, and to hear the forgotten lonely echoes of her steps. To a place where she couldn't hear the sweet sound of her daughter or her anguished cries, where she couldn't hear her wife asking how her day went or to feel her loving embrace and her sweet lips on her skin. Which is why she had decided to distract herself with some meticulous cleaning. She liked to keep everything as tidy, organized and clean as possible, and considering she didn't have to worry about Blau breathing in the powerful disinfectants, she went all in with it.

She was moping the floor at the moment, the white and read checkered tiles shining beneath the mop. She had taken off her coat, loosened the noose of her tie and taken off her black shoes with platform and replaced them with simple slippers; she was sure that if anyone were to take a peek into her kitchen would be very confused. Just because she was rich it didn't mean she couldn't do things such as house chores, thank you very much. She had learned a lot in the last 10 or so years of her life, and especially in the time she had left the manor back in Atlas. She had already reorganized every shelf and rechecked their grocery list for when Ruby would get back in a few days so they could go the 3 of them together. She wondered how they were until she remembered they had gone to sleep already. Her heart craved their presence like nothing else could, but the motions on the tiled floor helped somehow.

It was then that she heard a second notification sound coming from her scroll; she eyed the device that was resting comfortably over her kitchen table and decided to mop a few more times and just check what could it be so urgent that someone would message her so late in the night. She finished cleaning the floor and went to leave her cleaning supplies back where they belonged; Weiss washed her hands in the kitchen faucet and finally went to take a sit where her scroll waited for her.

She fiddled with it for a bit and then looked at who had been sending her messages. Her eyes did a double take when she saw who it was. None other than Blake Belladonna. She was truly surprised to say the least. She had thought that perhaps she had forgotten their conversation, or that maybe things were too hectic in Menagerie to talk back to her, or that maybe she had been scared away by their latest conversation. Still, she couldn't help but smile slightly that Blake had contacted her anyways. She thumbed her way to read her message and she was actually surprised to see a big wall of text. She squared off her shoulders and started reading.

 **Hello Weiss, I'm sorry I didn't do what you asked but I was a bit overwhelmed at the moment. I have a feeling that you know why but it doesn't matter now. I've had a bit more time to come to terms with what I've being doing in the last few years and I've realized a few things; some of them I had a bit of help with but the point is that I managed to understand something. I'm sorry Weiss, but I'm going to go on a bit of a rant here. Also, this message will likely combine both personal matters and duties so I'm really, really sorry about that, I know you get a bit quirky on that aspect.**

 **I'm done with running away. I'm going to take my problems head on instead of removing myself from them. So here's the first item on my list of things to say to you. Thank you for sending me that picture, it reminded that I need to actually talk to Yang. Not only talk to her, but go to where she is and tell her all I couldn't that day, all that I wanted but didn't out of fear of what I would do and many other things I messed up somehow. Again, this will likely become a mess of words, but I'm tired of keeping it to myself.**

 **You were the first to tell me to open up about my problems and stop being such a stupid girl that would try to do everything on her own without asking for help, so I'm in a way asking for help with this.**

 **I love Yang. I do. You may or may have not noticed it years ago, but I do. And I'm scared that I fucked up beyond repair, but I'm willing to try for her, to let her know that I did care and I still do. I wanted to talk to her as soon as I left. I wanted to weeks after, months and years even. But the silence grew too strong and too heavy for me to just talk to her out of the blue. I take responsibility for it, and I'm going to change it, but just a simple message won't do. I will go hunt her down if I have to, and I've realized that I do have to. I don't know how she feels about me anymore, or if she even cares, though I feel she does in a way. But I have to do this. I will leave Menagerie somehow and go look for her. If I'm stripped off my title, then so be it. I will try to leave soon enough, but I have to stabilize our current situation a bit more before I leave. This thing could be the only legacy I'll have for all I know and maybe I could even be branded as someone who just upped and left them to fend for themselves, but in a way, I kind of did that to her, didn't I?**

 **I was so scared and confused Weiss, when we were there? On the trial? I almost lost my mind keeping it concealed from you guys. And I should have talked about it but I was too scared and with such a feeling of guiltiness I couldn't shake it off myself. It was different to that time, when we reunited in the battle field and afterwards. Me and Yang, but mostly me I'm guessing, did a shitty job at patching things up. But this? It felt too strong for me to just talk about it. I know now that it was a terrible decision but I've come to terms with it and there's nothing I can do to change the past. But I can try to fix the present.**

 **Also, while I'm on this topic, I miss you all. I miss you all in ways I never thought I would. I care for you all and it's killing me to be apart from you. I want to know the honorary member of Team RWBY, I want to hug that little girl and tell her that there's nothing to fear about someone that has animalistic traits. I want to meet her and let her know the last member of her mothers' team, the one who came back for a better future instead of the one who left her aunt behind. I've been doing good enough for my people here, but this is a price too big for me to handle. I've been trying to change things, and you know this part… you've been with me in this journey of leadership and in a way, you know me more than you might realize. Weiss, thank you again for pushing me in the right direction.**

 **I wanted to tell you before something that even the people in here don't know about. This a secret for now Weiss, and I'm risking everything just by telling you, but…We found new green lands Weiss. All we knew about the southern parts of the island was not precise and in some ways, there were fragile lies. There's so much possibilities to further our reach and to maximize our economy Weiss, this is a unique opportunity to do so much more and even to help along with our conjoined cause; to let the people of Menagerie choose to stay in the island with better possibilities and ship more people off. It's too soon to be sure about this Weiss, but I'm thinking that we could start taking larger strides for equality, and I know this is more of your side of things, but I'm thinking is time to actively break down our borders and start letting humans in. Can you imagine that? A world where Menagerie is no longer a reminder of how we were treated back there, but a place with so much more to explore, and to make history as a place where Humans and Faunus could live together in peace, an example of tolerance for the world. A place where we can show that we are equal and that we can live in harmony together. Wouldn't that be a dream come true? I'm sorry, like I said, I'm ranting now. The point is Weiss, that after I'm done making this public to my people, I plan to leave as quickly as possible and search for Yang. If she forgives me somehow I'll be the happiest person in all the world, and if she doesn't… at least I tried and I will make peace with that. I think I may have already told you too much about this whole thing, but I wanted you to know that I won't hurt Yang anymore, willingly or not. I want her to know that if she ever needs me for whatever reason, I will drop anything and go to her. Because she's worth it. Just letting you know that, in case that you surprisingly find yourself dealing business with someone else in my place. Anyway, I think I've ranted long enough. If I lost my train of thought anywhere in this message, I apologize, it's really late and it has been a very long day for me. Thank you so much Weiss, I'm sorry to drag you with all this.**

 **Please, don't tell Yang anything about this, I want to go to her without her knowing so I can have a real feel of what she wants to do with what I'll tell her. I love her. There, I said it again. Being honest feels freeing somehow, thanks for teaching me that. And because I haven't said it enough: Thank you Weiss, I think I can honestly say, you are the greatest friend I've ever had. Yang is more amazing of course, but she's more than a friend to me. And if I haven't fucked this up already, someday, somewhere, there's a future for us. If not… well, she will always have a place in my heart.**

The first message ended there and the second only read:

 **By the way, how fast can Miss Kirkas fly without breaking international laws? Also, I might have to ask you for a favor in the future.**

After reading it all, Weiss felt a bit overwhelmed but after a few moments of consideration, she managed to get her thoughts in order somehow. Well, she had finally done it. She broke Blake somehow. She had written a message so long, and so filled with emotions that she could have suspected Blake had been kidnapped somehow and that a stranger that didn't know her had messaged her instead. Still, she couldn't help the tiny hopeful smile that made an appearance on her face.

So she thumbed her way to answer and what she wrote said:

We will talk about this matter in the morning after a cup of coffee for me and one of tea for you. For the time being, I will limit myself to say this: Blake Belladonna, welcome back.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed that :) things are starting to move forward, finally xD I love narrating everything but sometimes i get too carried away, narrating day by day. Hour by hour xD anyways...**

 **The thing about the fish being cooked with lemon juice is a reference to a very known delicious dish in my country, Cebiche. Since i went with the peruvian theme for her character, it only made sense to add something like that for fun. Anyways. Thank you so much for reading. Let me know in a review how did you like it guys. Thank you all :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello guys! Thank you so much for all your reviews, it really makes me happy to read them :) I 'm sorry it has taken me this long to update but the situation in my country is not the best at the moment. We are in crisis because of the many floods in the last weeks, but this week only has been the worst we've seen. Because of that, the internet connection is not quite working as usual, that and because i've been worried about some other things, i haven't been able to upload early. Anyways, enough with me. I hope you guys enjoy this episode, I apologize if it is a bit slow at the beggining but like i said, it's been a rough week. Enjoy! :D**

* * *

It's not she's bad at videogames, she's pretty good actually. But Ruby can't deny that she has seen her fair amount of YOU LOSE screens throughout her life. Growing up she was a bit sheltered by her dad and definitely looked after by Yang extensively; but if there's anything her blonde sister trumped her in, beat her in and completely humiliated her, besides fist fighting, it was games.

Board games? Check. Video games? Check. Yard games? Check. And that last one was only because they never used their semblances while doing so; there were a few times were Ruby tried to cheat only for Yang to give her a long speech about how that's not a good thing to do and that she should upkeep her honor or something along those lines.

Well, bottom line is, as much as Yang always treated her with love and care; whenever they would play something she would become this… hyper enthusiastic opponent who would start the theatrics and run along with that performance until the end of the game. And win of course. Except on chess, Ruby was as good as her on that one. But videogames? Yang was the undisputed queen on those.

So, when Yang asked her the morning of her last day in Patch to play a few rounds of Kung Fu Ninja Slayer Ultimate Deathbattle II, her own favorite though the first installment was better, Ruby was a bit scared. It had been a loooong time since she had actually played videogames. Being a full-time famed Huntress does that to someone, and then being pregnant and then having baby Blau… yeah, definitely been a long while for her.

She accepted of course, because this was one of the things they used to do a lot together while growing up, and because her dad was taking care of Blau at the moment. They had been playing for half an hour or so when Ruby noticed something. She wasn't losing as often as she used to, and her sister was not as rambunctious or obnoxious whenever she won. If she had to guess, there was something bothering her sister, clearly distracting her enough that she was actually losing. However, actually guessing what the problem was, that was more difficult to gander taking into consideration that Yang has had too many things to worry about throughout her lifespan.

Watching her character perform an Ultimate fatality on Yang's character, she couldn't keep quiet anymore.

-"Hey, sis. Is everything ok? I feel like I've kicked your ass too many times now."- to be fair, this was the only opportunity in her life to be smug about wining to her sister and she was going to take it. Apparently Yang wasn't too affected by it.

\- "Hah! I'm peachy keen sis, I'm just sitting here fascinated by the death animation of all my faves here. This is the first time I'm seeing these, you know... considering you never got close to even getting me on the red life bar before."- Aaand there she was. Smug "I'm better than you" Yang was not completely compatible with "best big sister" Yang, but it was a facet of her personality nonetheless.

Ruby wasn't completely buying it though.

-"Yeah yeah, but seriously. Is something wrong? There's no way I'm suddenly great against you; and for the record, I do remember almost beating you that one time. It's not my fault Zwei attacked you with kisses and didn't let you see the screen for a moment."- To this day Ruby still cursed the magic pixel her sister had that one time. She was sooo close to winning… but Yang knew her fighting games and performed an amazing comeback.

-"Come on Ruby! I couldn't see anything but fur, it doesn't count. Nor the time you hid my controller, or the time you yelled that there was a nevermore on the window, or the time you tried tickling me or the time…"-

\- "Yeah, I think I get it Yang. Still… what's going on?"- Ruby had to pause the game in order to get her sister to look at her. Yang made a quip about how pausing the game meant she had lost that round only to receive a bit of a glare from her younger sister. Yang's face fell a little and finally stopped her charade.

\- "Ok, I'm gonna tell you. It nothing big, it's just…"- Ruby watched as her sister struggled a little to tell her the truth, she placed the controller down and brought both hands with her palms facing upwards towards her face.

\- "This is the first time I get frustrated about this kinda thing in forever, ok? It hasn't happened to me in a long time but… this stupid arm keeps mashing the wrong buttons! And it's making me crazy! I know is dumb, but…ughhg you know how I hate losing, I can't lose to you! That's not how things are!"- Ruby was a bit startled at the confession. She did know how much Yang hated losing, she got really pouty and irritated whenever uncle Qrow would win against her every time, but this was different. This was more into the category of "things Yang can't do well with a new arm" than in the videogame related rage category. Or maybe it was a bit of both actually.

-"Wait, what do you mean? I've seen you use that model all this week. You had perfect fine motor skills, what's the problem then?"- She had seen Yang pick up tiny things with that hand and had seen her solving some kind of crossword puzzle in the morning paper.

\- "No, it's not that! My thumb keeps sliding all over the attack buttons. It's great for quick 360° kinds of attacks where I have to press all four buttons one after the other in one motion, but quickly making other combos, it's not working. Didn't you see me drop that combo when I had you in the air? That's the bread and butter and I messed it up! Stupid metal fingers!"- Yang was now staring intently at her right hand, clearly upset with the prosthesis. Ruby was at a bit of a loss on what to say. She knew Yang loved her games, and as much as it wasn't an integral part on her life, it was bothering her enough to have a staring contest with it.

\- "Uhhh… we could try to connect our scrolls to the projector? The screen from the scroll does recognize your prosthesis, right? I've seen you typing on it before."- It seemed Yang was considering her suggestion a bit, until she shook her head no.

\- "We could but that's not the point. Besides, playing with the scroll makes it difficult for both of us to use the buttons on the corners… it's not the same."- It seemed she was still pondering on it, until her expression went back to neutral. Ruby had seen that happening before. It meant Yang had an idea developing in her mind but she was still coming up with the specifics.

\- "Hey Ruby, do you still have that strong glue we used to fix that old vase?"- At the mention of that, the silver eyed woman couldn't help to remember how she had accidentally broken the old vase in the entry hall. She had been using her semblance to get home quicker but had broken the rule of not using her semblance inside the house, she had bumped it slightly and it fell to the ground. Using her reflexes, she was able to catch it, unfortunately, a part did hit the ground and broke in three pieces. Hopefully her dad hadn't gotten home yet and Yang was reading in the living room couch when it happened; she had helped her to put it back together before their dad arrived and said vase was comfortably sitting in the same spot it had been all those years ago, without any sign of being broken. They had used the glue Yang was talking about, and sure enough, Ruby did know where it was.

-"Yeah? It's inside my shed, why?"- Yang's smirk told her all she needed to know.

O0o0o0o0o0o0oo00o0

Ruby wasn't bad at videogames. She was actually pretty decent at it and she had a little time to prove it to her sister. Yang would disagree of course, saying she was literally handicapped, earning loud groans from her little sister. But as luck would have it… Yang had the brilliant idea to have an impromptu customizing moment when she identified the reason of why she was losing. They went to Ruby's shed to retrieve the glue and then to the one where Yang used to keep Bumblebee at; she had said something about having a few extra parts lying around.

The end result? Ruby was looking at the losing streak she had after Yang had cut a tiny piece of a material that wouldn't let her thumb slide all over the controller, and glued it to her thumb. Was it a good idea? Yeah, she was wining again. Did it look dumb? Yes. Now she had a piece of rubber stuck to her finger with the sole purpose of not losing to her sister in a videogame.

-"Yeah! There you go! Total annihilation! Well, it seems I win again sis."- Yang was beaming now, her confidence showing once again. Ruby was a little mad, but all in all… she was glad her sister was happy again.

-"Yeah yeah, you do. What are you gonna do with that though? Are you just gonna have that on your finger forever?"-

\- "Nope, just wanted to see if I still got it, and I do. I'll just rise my heat through my semblance until the glue melts and that's it. It was fun though; I'll have to keep that idea in mind if I ever need it again."- Ruby just rolled her eyes good-naturedly and stretched her back on the couch they were both sitting in.

\- "Well, as much as I don't like losing, it was fun to play again sis. We don't have a console in Vale but it would be fun to see Weiss try this as well. We never did manage to teach her back at Beacon."- Talking about Beacon was a bit of a sore topic for both of them, so Ruby was silently observing her sister's reaction to it. She just nodded her head for a moment and then perked up quickly all of a sudden.

\- "Hey! I know a game she might actually really like! It's about this undead warrior that has to travel all over some old kingdom or something, you have to fight giant enemies to get their souls and get more levels. Something about old gods too, but I don't remember well that part. It has a lot of good reviews and I've heard that the combat system is very interesting, many kinds of weapons and shields. You could try to get her into that."-

\- "Ha-ha sure! Weiss likes a good challenge. Text me the name and maybe when you visit us, you'll see her playing her life away."- Yang nodded as well and stood up to put away the game and the controller.

\- "By the way, when do you plan to visit us? You can always drop by of course, but it would be nice to know what your plans are."- Yang hummed a little as she busied herself with the projector.

\- "Well, I'm definitely staying here with dad for another 3 weeks. I'm gonna show the old man what his daughter is made of. And you know, catch up and all that. My baby niece is a blessing and so much fun to be around, but she's so distracting with her cuteness that I haven't been able to talk with dad for long."- Ruby agreed, her daughter was the ultimate cuteness overload.

\- "But after that, I definitely have to get to Vale to pick up Bumblebee, my precious baby is sitting all alone in some shoddy garage. I could swing by your place, maybe have an afternoon with you guys. It would be nice."

-"Just an afternoon? Nonsense! We'll be happy to have you with us for as long as you'd like! You have to see the way we arranged Blau's room, we were still working on it when you last visited, but now… you just have to see it!"- Yang laughed at her sister's giddiness and said:

-"Alright! Maybe I'll stay for a few days, but no more than 3! I plan to hit the mission boards soon enough. I can't keep the world safe for my baby niece if I'm not fighting the fight, right?"- As she said so, she leaned downwards to pick up the console, and Ruby could see her scars in the places her pajama top didn't cover. She had a few new ones since the last time she had seen her. The sight of them troubled Ruby for a bit. Ruby herself had a few, but it was the location of her sister's that made her uncomfortable. They were all in her back and mostly to the right of her body. The location was very telling for any professional Huntsmen or Huntress; scars on your back meant you didn't have someone to watch it. Most lone freelancers like her sister had them, but the quantity meant her sister had been reckless or fought so hard, her aura broke too many times. They were mostly claw ones, though there were some that told another story, by the way they seemed to smear on her skin. Ruby stood up and got behind her sister.

\- "You'll start kicking it down a notch though, Yang? I think these 2 are new."- As she said that, she traced two marks near her right shoulder with a finger. Yang didn't flinch though, she just turned her head to look at her.

-"Yeah. I redirected to much aura to the stump, there are so many times I can parry blocks with my aura shield, I was caught a bit unaware. But yeah… I'll be more careful now."- She turned around to look at her sister, but her pleading silver eyes, told her she needed to be more reassuring.

\- "Hey, don't worry too much, ok? I told you I was gonna pick my battles better and I'll do it. Maybe when you're done with your maternity leave, we can go Huntressing some time, right? It would be fun, we've never gone on one you and me and I'm sure Weiss will be less worried about you if we are together, right?"- Yang got closer and hugged her sister; no matter how much she had grown, she would always be her baby sister. For her and her niece, she would give it all… and she would really try. She was already thinking what kind of missions she could look for. Maybe an escorting one or a search and destroy that's wasn't too dangerous. She could try to guess all she wanted but at the end of the day, she didn't know what she would encounter next on the mission boards.

\- "Yang, I love you and all, but you're hugging me too hard right now; If you don't stop we're gonna have a leaky situation."- Yang let her go immediately with an expression of embarrassment.

\- "Sorry sis, it slipped my mind."- Before Ruby could assuage her, a tiny sound of wonder reached their ears. Soon enough, there was Taiyang entering the living room with the little blue rose in his arms. She was looking around, with wide eyes. Her icy orbs shining with wonder at everything she was looking at. Ruby felt the love for her daughter rising above everything else, she never failed to make her smile.

-"Ah! There's your mommy rosebud! And look! Your auntie Yang is here too!"- Blau turned her head towards her mother, black tiny locks of hair moving along with her. When Taiyang got close enough, the little baby finally recognized her mother and moved her arms in her direction, asking to be held as she cooed some more.

\- "Aww, stop it you two! You're breaking my heart."- Yang covered her eyes with her hands, feigning tears as Ruby got a hold of her daughter. She rolled her eyes at her theatrics while Taiyang just crossed his arms and shook his head.

\- "Yang! We know you're not crying, also you're gonna hurt your eyes if you rub them with the thing you put on your thumb."-The older Xiao Long, made a puzzled expression at what his youngest said.

-"What? What th..?"

\- "Don't worry dad, it's nothing. Hey Ruby, do you need help packing your stuff? Weiss said she was gonna send for her pilot to pick you up, right?"

-"Can you? Thank you sis! Yes, she said she's gonna come by after lunch. Dad, you can help too if you want."

\- "I'm sorry, but I think I'm going to start cooking early. I have to take Zwei for a walk after that so I'm a bit full on duties. Let me know if you need anything though."- They nodded at him; he kissed his girls on their foreheads and went his way.

Blau was now comfortably sitting in her mother arms, but seemed to be looking at Yang now that she was close as well. Specifically, looking at her chest. When the blonde huntress noticed, she laughed a bit.

\- "Well, it was bound to happen sometime."- Ruby was confused for a second until she looked at where her daughter was looking. She snickered lightly and said:

\- "Ohh, Blau, there's nothing there for you! Let's go up, I'll feed you while your auntie helps us pack, alright?". At the sound of her mother's voice, baby Blau turned to her direction, seemingly smiling at her. They started heading upwards.

\- "So I gather that never happens to Weiss?"

\- "YANG!"

O0o0oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

To said she was nervous was an understatement. It's not so much that she was going to talk to her father, but she was going to pour her heart out and tell him everything that had afflicted her for years. So it was completely normal that she was so fidgety, right? Blake could afford to act that way, right? She sighed loudly. She was currently sitting in the dining room, with her hands grasping her scroll tightly over the low table. It was already Thursday and she couldn't actually wait to have the feeling of uneasiness out of her system. And her mother wasn't even around to help her get her emotions in check, since she had decided to have lunch with a few friends that run some stalls at the market place. Blake sighed loudly.

Back when she had spewed out her feelings in a text bigger than a Goliath, she had tried to go to bed, except she had heard the noise of an incoming message.

At first she had been a little scared, but Weiss' last words in the shorts message gave her hope that she wasn't mad at her. So she went to bed and forgot it all for the night.

Except that when she woke up, she was assaulted by a questioning Weiss and the many messages that followed. Blake smiled a bit and searched in her scroll for the conversation of a few days ago. She started reading to pass the time before her father brought the tuna.

Blake, it's currently 8am on the dot. I believe you must be awake already. If you're not, then wake up! We need to talk extensively.

Then 5 minutes later another one.

Are you awake yet? Have you had your tea? I just finished my cup of coffee. Now, you are really lucky I don't have anything to do until noon, otherwise I would have sent my regular longer messages but seeing that the last one was responded to several days after I sent it, it had to come to this.

Ten minutes after the first message read:

God help me Blake, are you going to answer?

To which a very groggy Blake responded:

 **Yes! I'm sorry Weiss, I had a long day yesterday. I'm awake now, and ready to face whatever you have to say. I'm sorry I didn't respond sooner the last message, but I believe I explained what that was all about. How are you?**

I'm fine, thank you for asking. Now. Let's get to it. First of all, I'm glad that you decided to stop hiding away and come to terms with what needs to be done. I have to say I had a feeling you felt that way towards her before the trials, after those however, and when we found out that you had parted ways with Yang, I had my doubts. You are a good person Blake, you are a responsible leader and a great example of fighting for justice and equality for all. I'm proud to call you my friend, even if some personal decisions have been definitely stupid. There's no need for me to point this out other for the fact to tell you that I'm a bit mad that you did what you did but we can't change that. Still, the fact remains, you are my friend and I'm here to help you with whatever you need. So, let's talk about that. What are you planning to do? Exactly, I mean. You asked for Miss Kirkas. She's a great pilot, the best I've had. What is on your mind?

 **Thank you Weiss. I deserve to be called stupid, it was a rushed decision I shouldn't have taken but I did. I want to fix that. Before I jump to tell you why I asked about Miss Kirkas, I have to prepare a speech in which I tell the whole of Menagerie that we have more lands and more opportunities for all. What I want to do as well is to also push for more people leaving the island. I know for a fact that the previous generation stayed because they felt like there weren't any other safe places, but there are. Now, thanks to you and some of our peers, we have that. I want to give a speech that reflects that besides what we've found, there is still more places of the world to see. Also, I want to arrange for people to get to Menagerie, humans specifically. I was thinking that maybe if I were to bring humans that are known to be Faunus friendly at first, my people would be more at ease. What do you think?**

I for once think that you should be really careful in how you handle that speech. I'm sure the people will be glad to know there is more to explore in what they and the world thought to be mostly desert. If you want me to, I can help you revise such a document. I can also revise our previous plans with some of our other allies to include more opportunities for Faunus that are fair and equal to the others. I would suggest to also talk with the councilors in all the Kingdoms, to be more public about the things they have achieved in their positions, how many other Faunus are having a better life in there, or just plain doing what they always wanted to do. I would even suggest to have Miss Kirkas talk about her experience if she so wishes to do so. You would have to invite her though, I don't want to be the one to tell her to go, otherwise it would seem like she's just saying good things about the one who sent her. And after you are done with the speech?

 **That's a good idea, and I'll definitely show you the document when I have it done. After that, I'm planning on leaving Menagerie. There are a few ways I can do that. I could say I'm going to oversee the deals we've had in person, that would also include you, by the way; and just go straight looking for Yang. Or I could take a little vacation of sorts and leave my father in charge, along with my assistant. I have worked so many years nonstop for my people, so it should be fine. Except that there's also the perception that I would be leaving my duties behind only to relax, which doesn't paint me a good image. I could also, say that I'm taking a swift leave for matters that only pertain my person, but that I'm not abdicating in any way. I'll have to revise our laws and see how much of a window that leaves me, because in that case… depending on Yang's answer, I would stay with her as long as she'll have me. And when the law dictates it's been enough time, I will be stripped of my title and it will pass to the person that was left in charge. Like I told you before, if that happens, it happens. Yang deserves to know the full truth and I will deliver it.**

I have to say Blake, that you should you for option 3, revise the laws first though, so you have a backup for your actions and no one will be able to say otherwise. Leaving your father in charge seems like a good choice and I know you have a more than capable assistant, they should be fine. Now, if you were to leave using that option, I would be lending you my personal pilot, because you're my friend and not because of any business related thing. In fact, I could give her permission to be there a few days early, outside of her paid vacations so she can be with her family for a bit; and then leave when you are ready to go back. I could arrange for her to take you wherever you want, if there's something else you might want to do. As your friend though, I advise you to go directly to Yang. Now, this is all nice but when do you plan to have your plan on the move?

 **Thank you Weiss, you truly are a great friend. If all goes well, the speech should be given in a few weeks' time. We are taking some time to plan ahead on what needs to be done to actually go there and explore it fully. So far we've only got a glimpse at the place, but we are afraid to encounter Grim we've never seen before and even worse wildlife than the one we already have in our deserts. We need to assemble a team of people who will go there and do what needs to be done, but it would have to be people from outside the island. It was one thing to assemble a scouting party and another completely different to get people with the skills necessary to what we need to do. If push comes to shove, I'll have to lead the group myself. There aren't any other Huntsmen or Huntresses around, and my father is out of the question, he would have to be in charge when I'm out there on the unknown, in case something happens to me. Again, I'm supposing I'll be back here in case Yang wants me to go away, which is a very likely possibility in my mind. By the way, if we are successful in our endeavors, I will do everything in my power to get you here, even if I have to drag you. You have helped us a lot Weiss, it would be nice for you to see it yourself.**

You make me very happy to know our conjoined work has taken roots and that we have succeeded to a degree. But as you have always said, we still have a lot to do to reach our goal. I would be happy to visit Menagerie whenever you are ready to receive us. And yes, I said us because I would love to bring my family there. It would be a good vacation for us, and I always wanted my daughter to see the world from an early age, I'm sure Blau would love it. By the way, if you are going to be so close when you get to Patch, give us a visit, yes? We'll be happy to have you here, I want you to meet my baby girl so badly! Whatever happens, please do visit us Blake; I wasn't always a hug-person, just like yourself, but I would give you a big one if you come by. I haven't seen you in years and that must change soon enough!

 **You are very sweet Weiss, in your own special way. Thank you. I can't say for sure what would be the nature of my visit, but I'll definitely go visit you in Vale. Just be ready in case I appear at your doorstep crying my eyes out, hopefully I can also apologize to Ruby? I haven't been much talkative with her and our friendship has suffered for it. I'm sure she wants what is best for Yang, but at that point I would have already talked with her sister so… yeah.**

Don't worry about Ruby, she will understand your reasons, and if she doesn't, you still have my support Blake. I know how difficult it must have been for you to do what you did, even though it was a bad idea… but, the point is, you are trying to fix it. And I'm going to help you. Well, if there's nothing else to add to the conversation. I will say Goodbye, for now. Let me know if you need anything else.

 **Thank you Weiss, I know I've said it a hundred times, but it's not enough. You are a life saver. I will let you know if something else comes up. I'll have a deep talk with my father in a few days, if he has any other suggestions and ideas about what we could regarding me leaving Menagerie or anything else, I will let you know. Take care.**

That conversation had gone back and forth for the whole morning, since Blake had had duties during that time of the day so she could only respond every few minutes. Luckily it ended before Weiss had things to attain to.

Blake was happy to know that at the very least, Weiss had her back, and reading their conversation had helped her to calm down, so much that she was pleasantly surprised to smell the cooked tuna her father had prepared for their little get together.

\- "I'm sorry if I made you wait too long sweetheart, but it's finally done."- Ghira Belladonna was carrying a large tray with many cuts of tuna that had cooked to perfection, if the smell was any indication. It looked amazing, and when he set it on the table, Blake had to fight the urge to jump all over the fish. To hell with the stereotypes, she really really liked her tuna.

\- "It's okay dad, it looks delicious, thank you!"- Ghira took a seat in front of his daughter as he laughed away her response.

\- "Whatever I can do for my daughter, I'll be always happy to do. I can't wait for you to try it. Please, take a bite."- Blake nodded at her father and swiftly managed to put a serving of the fish on her plate. She also put some of the sauce it seemed to accompany the dish and with a shaky fork, dug into the soft tuna. The seconds it took for her to get the fork to her mouth were painful but soon forgotten when she finally got her tuna.

Words, weren't enough.

\- "So, by the expression on your face I think I can guess, but! Do you like it?"- Ghira had an amused expression on his bearded face, his golden eyes dancing with mirth at her daughter's antics. When Blake was finally able to respond, she managed a little:

\- "It's wonderful."- The older Faunus smiled wide and started eating as well.

\- "I'm glad to know that."- They ate for a few minutes in silence, until Blake decided she had postponed the conversation enough.

\- "Dad, I think is time I tell you about all the things I've kept close to my heart. I'm sorry it has taken me so long to do it, but I'm ready now."- Ghira smiled kindly at his daughter and said:

\- "Go on Blake, I'm here for you, no matter what". - Blake could feel her ears droop a little in embarrassment, but with a small nod, she managed to shake her insecurities away.

-"Right! I'll start then."

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 **I feel like I'm a jerk for that cliffy. I had to guys! this chapter is the longest one i've written! But don't worry, just wait to the next chapter ;)**

 **Like i said before, I'm sorry if the first part feels weird, I was worried about some things when i wrote that part and i kinda ran along with my game refs. Also, can you guess what would be the perfect game for Weiss? It's one you have to study your enemy's form and wait for the right moment to strike, she would love that one! Anyways, as always, any question, constructive criticism you may have, don't doubt to leave a review :) Thank you so much for reading my story :D**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys! Thank you for all your reviews :) they made me really happy :D i have news for you, if you check my tumblr (you can get there with the instructions on my profile here) you'll see my first illustration for this fic, based on a scene from chapter 1 :) if you like it, be sure to give it some love and maybe even let me know which scene of this fic would you like to see next :) i love your input guys :D Ok, now a bit of more serious news...**

 **Remember how i said there were some floodings in my country? well, it got worse... they are everywhere, and it's been a hell of a week for all of us. We've had problems with the water supply, some vegetables skyrocketed in prices, many have lost their homes, their belongings, properties and animals. I have the luck to live somewhere where i only had to face a few days without water but, it has been hard on so many others, it's terrible. I know you might not care about it at all, since I know you are here because you like this story or you are intrigued by it but... just to let you know... that is what is happening in Peru right now. Anyways, onwards with the story... Thank you for reading guys :)**

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\- "So, let me get this straight."- Blake's father said as he cleaned his hands with a napkin; the many bones of the tuna they had consumed during Blake's story resting over the big plate at the middle of the table. Blake herself was a little nervous, with her ears facing backwards and slightly hunched. Her heritage showing what couldn't be seen in her face, as she just nodded at her father to keep on talking, ready to answer any question.

\- "You plan to leave Menagerie in a quest, that you don't know how long will last, to search for the partner that saved your life years ago; to search for this woman who you left because you thought yourself unworthy of her… to tell her the truth and tell her that you still love her? And you want me to help you by taking charge once again of the island and the people, while you're gone…. With the possibility that you may not come back in time if not forever? Is that right?"- with every word he uttered, Blake's frame seemed to shrink bit by bit into herself. She could feel her emotions in a whirlwind again, after the exhaustion of narrating again some of the best and worst moments of her life to her other parent. Luckily she only had the two and she was done explaining herself to them, that only left her with one explanation on the queue; however painful that reunion would be, she would say it all.

Sighing her worries again, she looked into her father's eyes and said: - "Yes dad, that's more or less it."- Her father looked down to the table, fiddling with some of the utensils on it, until he finally spoke.

\- "Something tells me that you are worried I'm not going to agree with your plans. Am I right?"- there it was. That was exactly what Blake had been waiting to hear. She needed her dad's help to make her plans work and not raise any other suspicions over the reasons of her leaving the Island. Because of Yana's intel on some members of the community, Blake was aware that there were a few who opposed some of the things she had done through the years. Some of them said that she was "Another pet of the Schnees", and that there was something shady going on behind the curtain… certainly those claims were unfounded, but the fact remained, she desperately needed her dad's help to pull it off.

\- "Dad, I will understand if you decide that my reasons are petty and that our people need me, but…"- Ghira's large hand came into her field of vision and stopped her before she could say anything else. Her nervousness only grew at his action.

\- "Blake, I'm sorry for interrupting you, but I can't let you continue."- Blake felt her heart fall to her stomach, hitting her with mixed emotions and clouding her eyes slightly. She closed her eyes for a moment but then opened them wide when she heard her father standing up. He had a blank expression on his face as he made his way towards her side of the table. She was looking at him, intrigued by his behavior, until he kneeled beside her and took one of her hands in his.

\- "Blake, I can't let you continue because I can't hear you say… that you think I won't help you."- Blake's ears shot upwards as she opened her mouth slightly. Could it be…?

\- "I stood silent as you told me all about your partner… all about Yang because I wanted to hear about the person who made you talk so passionately and so long about her. I don't think I've ever heard you speak for so much time about someone; whether it was painful or not, because I could see you trying not to cry on some parts, I'm still glad that you chose to talk to me about her."- At her dad's words, Blake couldn't help a few tears rolling down her cheeks. She had been holding them for the longest time now. Seeing them, her father didn't doubt to dry them with his thumb.

\- "I could hear the love and emotion you have for her, and I'm sorry that fate had to put you through so much that you had to take some very difficult decisions, but I think that you're right this time around. You have to tell her all of this, no matter what. You have to."

Blake nodded a tiny bit, still feeling her emotions raw in her heart; she suddenly remembered something.

\- "So, dad… Are you willing to help me then? I wish I could say how long this would take but, I don't know what's going to happen once I found her."

The older Belladonna did something that Blake didn't expect, he hugged her as tenderly as when she was a little child. She was a bit out of her element but she soon put her arms around him as well.

\- "Oh Blake, my little kitten. Of course I'm going to help you. I know you must be bursting to go and run to her side, but your sense of duty is so strong, you don't want to just leave things in the air. I love you and your mother so much! If I were in your position and it was your mother whom I had to talk to… I don't think I could ever be as strong as you are, which is why I'm going to help you do this. As soon as we are done with lunch, I'm going to go and help you revise our laws, I'm sure it won't be too complicated for you to leave. The people in here still look at me with respect, so that should help you a lot."- he heard his daughter sob and looked at her face with worry. She was smiling.

-"Thank you dad. You are too good to me."- she felt her father shaking his head no.

\- "Blake, I love you, but you have to stop acting and feeling like everyone's too good for you. As far as I'm concerned, no one is too good for YOU, my dear. Which is why, If I get to meet this Yang girl, as much as I'm thankful to her for saving your life, I will still keep an eye on her for you. You will have to tell me her last name again though, I doubt it will sound as intimidating as my Mr. Wukong used to sound."- at that, Blake couldn't help laughing when she remembered that whole phase of her life. Sun and her still remained good friends, and from time to time when they would message each other about their respective works, they would tease each other about their past. Blake couldn't deny that there had been a time long ago where she had a bit of a crush on the monkey Faunus, but that had been before she realized how much she felt for Yang.

His stay on Menagerie had been a bit tense in some regards, but after they met with Ilia back when she was a forced White Fang member, things started to change gradually. Who would have thought they would eventually fall in love, get married and live together in Mistral? They certainly didn't. But their already brief conversations would always end whenever he started asking her about Yang. Blake realized she probably should apologize to him about that sometime.

-"Blake? You have been a bit quiet, you know I'm only teasing you, right? I wouldn't be too hard on the girl on purpose."- Blake shook her head no.

\- "I know dad; I was just thinking about some things… By the way, her last name is Xiao Long… so I think you're right. It wouldn't sound as scary."- her dad snickered as he held her tighter.

\- "Thank you, dad, you are the best."

\- "Well, I won't correct you on that one, if it makes you feel better."- Blake's purr made him know her answer, so he closed his eyes and just basked in the moment with his daughter.

O0o0o0o0oo0o0o0o0

When she had packed to make a visit to Patch, she hadn't had a hard time deciding what to include on her travel bag. The weight wouldn't be an issue, considering she had been able to lift speakers as tall as her back when she was 17, but there was a good feeling of accomplishment whenever she managed to travel light. So she had included a few change of clothes (since there was a closet filled with her older ones), Ember Celica in case she encountered a little trouble, one of her customized battle prosthesis in case she encountered big trouble and some snacks to chew on her way to her oldest home. What she hadn't accounted for was that she should have brought her Huntress outfit with her. She wished she had packed it instead of leaving it on her bike's bag, but it was alright, she could still kick her dad's ass and prove what she could do without the aid of her prosthesis… as cool as she had made it, she still had a few tricks up her proverbial sleeve.

Which is why she found herself in the old training yard, wearing the same thing she had arrived in from the waist down, but wearing one of her old t-shirts instead of her crop tops. When she had opened her old closet to search for something she could fight in, it was a fun/dumb trip old memory lane. There was no way she could use any of those in battle nowadays. She was sure she could still rock that look, but it would be super awkward to fight her dad in one of those. She shuddered inwards at the thought. She had her metal stump on and ready to go; since she didn't have her hunting gear with the side bag at hand (heh), she decided to leave her battle prosthesis at her side of the field in case she needed it. The gleaming yellow and dull black made it very easy to see against the grass; the only complication had arisen when Zwei decided he liked this new stick better; so Yang had been obligated to give him the simple silver one instead of her deadly model and explain to him that he shouldn't get near the new one. Sure, the old corgi had enough aura to block one of her hidden tricks but still, she didn't want him to get hurt because she wasn't clear about that.

\- "So, again, are you sure you want to face me handicapped?"- Her father's voice brought her eyes front and center. He had a smirk on his face, the white hairs on his beard, hiding some of his wrinkles, but the fire on his eyes that were present in any challenge still shone in her presence. She eyed him and saw that he was wearing his regular clothes; he was just standing there but she could see the way his muscles tensed from time to time. He was ready in case she decided to attack him out of the blue; or in this case, because of what he had said.

\- "Dad, puns are still my thing, and no…are you sure YOU want to face me period? Last I checked, I kicked your ass before I left for Mistral."- As she spoke, she stretched here and there, telling him with her body language that she was getting ready but that maybe he shouldn't be pushing his luck too much. She did not earn the title of Dragon Huntress for nothing. She rotated her right shoulder to show him completely that she was not kidding about not using her arm. He squinted his eyes at her, deciding to stretch as well.

\- "I remember saying you were not ready. And I was right, didn't you like break that thing as soon as you arrived? Must be nice to be Armed and Ready only to get disarmed again… You must have some of your uncle's luck then."- She was the one squinting now; she knew this game. He would prod and push her to her anger limits until she would attack him first; but she had learned from him, to not rush into battle… to take her time. If he was gonna play that game, then she would play as well. She would have to be harsher then.

\- "My luck is a reflection of yours, isn't it? I saw my mother again, in Mistral. I didn't want to tell you because well… I don't think you are ready to hear about her."- The echoes of what he had told her again and again when she was a child were ringing on his ears now, and she could tell. She was the one smirking, and the blue fire in his eyes only seemed to glow.

\- "Oh that's really nice. Did you learn that from her? Oh sorry, that's right, she had more important things to do, right?"- Yang felt a little pull on her heart, something old and dulled by the years, she could see how the vein at his neck had popped, the one that she could only see when he was getting really angry. She stood in position, ready for him to strike now.

\- "That one must have hurt you a lot dad. I can see your blood pressure is getting high, should we stop this, old man? I don't wanna call you a doctor."- He snickered then, cracked his neck and got into position as well.

\- "Well, it seems you haven't forgotten our lesson. You have a handle on it now."- She cringed inside at his pun. – "Your eyes didn't even turn red, that's new."- Yang knew that's what he wanted. He was baiting her to use her semblance in a rage, but he hadn't seen her action in many years. If she thought she had been ready then, she was more than ready now.

-"Yeah well, there's many things that are new with me. Can we cut the crap and get to it? I really want to kick your ass in style."- They circled each other, Taiyang with both arms in front of him, ready to block and ready to strike first, Yang was standing different to what he was used to see from his oldest. She used to stand with her left fist in front of her and her right cocked to the side and ready for a quick jab and a blast of her weapon; now she was standing with her right arm posed to the front and her body angled opposite of what she used to, her left was the one standing behind now, her feet were opposite as well, her right was facing him forward. All in all, her stance was different, and he was trying to find out what she had in mind to do so.

\- "Well, don't mind if I do."- As he said that, he started to notice that her hair seemed a tiny bit duller than before, like it did when she was coming down of using her semblance, but she hadn't used it once. His confusion lasted for a second and then curiosity took its place. He couldn't take it any longer, so he started to swing at her with medium velocity jabs. He noticed that she was avoiding his strikes, she was letting him advance as he swung at her. She was quick as always, and she was even quicker without the added weight of a metal arm, but then again… she was young, he was old… it might've just been the years playing him tricks.

He decided he had been playing enough, and then started to really get at it; striking harder, faster and even doing some of his tricks, mixing some kicks and jumps into it; after all, she could only evade for so long. In one of those moments, he had maneuvered them enough to get her close to a tree, with no way to escape backwards, so he was ready to strike at the side she most likely would decide to escape to. So when he hit with his left, ready to connect with his right fist or leg, his knuckles met with an impossible barrier.

His eyes got wide when he saw what it was. She not only blocked, but parried his attack and counterattacked with her left fist, right into his stomach. He had seen it for only a second, a golden highlight, but he saw it nonetheless. Yang had blocked with her right arm, specifically where she was lacking her forearm. He had skidded a bit backwards with the punch. His aura had taken a very good hit but he had plenty of aura left.

\- "Surprised?"- His mind started reeling in time, recalling what he had just seen. It seemed his daughter had managed to push her aura to where her natural arm should be, with enough power to not only block that swing, but to break open his guard while he was distracted by it. So that was why her hair had dulled before, she was constantly pushing her aura where she needed it the most. It was a good trick, but he knew of it now, it wouldn't work twice on him.

\- "That's a nifty thing you got there. Surely it must have worked against many dumb Grim and some people as well, but you are still taking me lightly if you think you can beat me with only that."- He reorganized his stance, aware of her parrying aura and even more aware of the double-edged sword his daughter had. Storing her aura in her arm meant she was more vulnerable everywhere else. He only had to prove it.

This time however, it was Yang who got closer to attack him. She started by throwing a few kicks here and there, making him block and evade at her leisure. He countered that though, when he evaded one of her left kicks and kicked her on her right shin, making her lose her balance and falling forwards… considering she was missing her arm, it wasn't a difficult thing to do. However, he wasn't ready when he saw her use her metal stump as a pivot on the ground and putting her left foot back on the ground and balancing with her left hand, she used her right leg to kick backwards on his direction, trying to trip him up in a spinning motion. He managed to evade it by jumping backwards, but she didn't stop there; still using the metal of her stump on the ground and the movement of her body after her kick, she repositioned her body facing him now and stood up as quickly as she could.

She sprang towards him with all the strength in her legs and managed to land a hit on his chin with her left hand, unfortunately, Taiyang had seen her movement had let her guard open, and as her punch connected his aura and gone past him, the man saw the chance to strike with his knee in a quick motion. Taking her by surprise and seeing that he had used enough force to push her upwards, he used both hands closed together to hit her on the back. As he did, he felt how thin her aura was in that zone of her body, which was actually plenty of explanation for the scars he had seen on her before.

Her body slammed hard against the ground, no doubt absorbing the force of it and storing it. He decided then to back away for a moment, to let her get her bearings and for him to check his aura reserves. There was no doubt that his daughter was still a force to be reckoned with; only two hit that had actually connected and he was left with less than half. As he assessed this, Yang had rolled to a side and had gotten up, a bit slow but he was sure he had knocked the wind out of her; unfortunately, that sort of proved his point.

\- "I see that you can actually fight without the prosthesis… it must have taken you some time to project your aura in such a way and practice new stances, but… I'm sorry to say, had I been a Beringel, you would have been done for."- As he said that, he noticed she wasn't facing him. She had been hunched for a bit and then stood up, he was analyzing this when he heard his daughter's laugh.

\- "Dad, a Beringel destroyed my first arm. Well… I destroyed that arm when I destroyed that Beringel's head."- as she said so, Taiyang heard a faint clicking noise. That's when he realized, she had rolled to the side where she had been when they started their fight. She turned around then, and he saw it gleaming in the sun. Another metallic arm attached to her stump, but it seemed different somehow, from the one she had when she left for mistral.

\- "Unlike that arm, this one… well, let's say it's more durable and versatile."- When she said that, she hit the inside of her metallic forearm with her other hand and quick as lightning, two blades slid into place; one was facing the opposite direction of where she hit it, a hidden blade that went from where the joint of her elbow ended to close to the wrist; it was curved and wide enough to cut easily through one's aura, and the other blade… it had come from a guard-like piece on the surface of the back of her hand, it was as long as that piece, a bit slimmer that the guard itself, had a double edge and was pointy enough to make Taiyang flinch. It had only been 4 or 5 seconds since Yang had done her demonstration when the blades retracted themselves back inside her arm.

-"Pretty rad, huh? It's too bad I can't do my usual punch my knuckles stance, right? That would just be dumb with this model."- Her father was dumfounded at her demonstration.

\- "Uhhhh… You there?"- he recovered quickly though, and just gestured wildly at her for a second or two until he managed to say:

-"Ok, that's cool! But why show me? You could have won with a few well-placed strikes!"- Yang raised a blonde eyebrow in question.

\- "Uh, because this is a spar? And because I don't want to hurt my dad? Chill, ok? Look."- As she said that, she fiddled with the prosthesis near the joint of the elbow, she seemed to be done and then hit the metal in the same place she had done before, only no blades appeared.

-"See? I wanted to show you the cool blades but I wasn't going to use them against you, dad! Your fighting style relies in striking, counterattacks, blocking and redirecting the balance of the enemy, you would have been at too much disadvantage if I wanted to fight you with the hidden blades."

Taiyang seemed to process what she had said, but he was actually thinking on how proud he was of his sunny little dragon, and how far she had gotten. He nodded at her and said while he was getting into his stance again:

\- "Ok Yang, I see what you mean. But you know what? This still proves my point, you had to switch to the metal arm in order to get the advantage. What do you have to say about that?"- She smirked at him and got into her own stance, the one he was familiar with; the one he had taught her since she was a little girl.

\- "I'd say, where's the fun then? When I'm with my gear it's pretty easy to put on my other models whenever I need them. I think it's not fair for my enemies if I'm always the one with… the 'upper hand'. Eh? Eh?"- she looked at him expectantly and he almost broke inside… he knew what she wanted him to say. So he sighed deeply and said it as he charged back at her.

\- "GODDAMNIT YANG!"

O0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0

Zwei was still contently chewing on the fingers of the basic model when Taiyang was defeated. Yang was proudly standing above him, offering him her left arm to pick him up the ground, a small smile on her face as a few bead of sweat rolled down her temple. He was still looking upwards to the sky, normalizing his breathing so he hadn't seen her offering help.

\- "Hey, let me give you a hand dad!"- He groaned as loudly as he could without cutting his air supply. He took her hand in his and managed to stand up.

\- "You… you did it. I don't think I'll be able to win against you anytime soon. Congrats."- He looked her in the eyes and was proud that the red eyes of her mother hadn't made an appearance at all in their battle and that the vivid lilac were still in place.

\- "Nahh, to be fair you're older now. And there might have been a little chance for you to win if I hadn't decided to put on Edgy."- At the last word, the blond Huntsmen raised an eyebrow in question, realization hitting him in a second and making him cringe.

\- "Yang, did you name your arm?"- She smiled so bright that he couldn't stay cringing for long.

-"Sure did! This one and all my other models. There's Edgy, Clawy, Boomy, Shaky, Glowy, Quickie…"- she was counting them all with her fingers when Taiyang interrupted her.

\- "Uhh, I think I'd rather not know what kind of customizations choices did you take for those."

-"Really? I wanted to tell you all about my Little Dragon and how that helped me…". -

\- "Yang! Not our family name! How could you? Stop it! STOP!"- Tai was covering his ears in a panic, with his eyes shut so hard and screaming that he didn't get to hear his daughter say:

\- "…helped me earn my title. Wow dad, really? Ok, I won't tell you then. Sheesh!"

When he was done, he finally opened his eyes and saw Yang raising both eyebrows at him.

\- "You done? I think is time we get inside… might want to just catch your towel, Zwei is all kinds of distracted right now."- When he heard his name, the little corgi raised his head for a moment and then kept chewing.

\- "Yep, I don't think you'll be getting that one anytime soon."- They grabbed a few bottles of water they had readied before their fight and small towel for each, then took a sit together by the shade of the cabin. The wind was starting to blow towards them in a calming motion. Taiyang was the first to speak.

\- "So, is it true? Did you see your mother again?"- he took a sip of water as Yang answered.

\- "Wish I could say otherwise, but yeah. We crossed paths when I was riding down to Mistral some months ago."- Her father choked in his water and started to breathe deeply to stop the pain in his chest.

-"Wait what? For real? Did she say anything to you?"- She turned her head to look at the trees, avoiding whatever emotion would appear on her father's face.

-"Kinda. She was with a few of people of her tribe. I told her that she better stay away from the villages or she would have to answer to me. She smirked at me and told me to have a good trip."- She could feel her father's anger again with how the water bottle made some squeaky noises of being gripped too hard.

-"That's it? Did you see her again?"- Yang shook her head no and took a sip of her own and then said:

\- "No, I stayed a few weeks in every village of the area and didn't encounter them again. Unfortunately, there's no way for me to know if she listened to me or not, I would have to go back there."- she finally turned to look at her dad and he was crestfallen now.

\- "I'm sorry."- Yang turned fully at him now, trying to make him look into her eyes.

\- "What for?"

\- "That you had to deal with that; hell… that you had to deal with many things… I'm sorry."

\- "Dad, she's the one that should be sorry. You did great by us; I won't say you were perfect but… to me, to Ruby, to Summer… you were pretty damn close, you know?"- Tai had a sad smile now.

\- "I wish you knew how much she loved you. I know you remember her much better than Ruby ever could but… you were Summer's child too, and she never loved you any less than that. Don't you ever forget that."- It was Yang's turn to smile sadly at him, she took his right hand on her left one and intertwined her fingers with her father.

\- "I won't, I haven't. It's just… still a bit painful if I call her mom… Saying her name helps me not fell that."- Tai's blue eyes seemed to fill with tears, but her held them back a bit.

\- "I'm sorry I brought it up. I've missed you a lot… your sister visits more often than you do, and here I am, bringing up the past… making you feel sad. I've really missed you, Yang."- The one with the lilac eyes smiled at him and just got a bit closer to him, she rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes for a bit.

\- "I've missed you too, dad. I won't take as long to visit you next time. I promise. Also, I'm the one who brought Raven into the conversation when we were about to spar, I should apologize to you."- he shook his head slightly.

\- "We are good, don't worry."

A few minutes went by as they enjoyed each other's presence and the serene air. Taiyang was lost in a sea of memories, thinking about many things… but above all, he wanted to help his daughter come to terms with her actions in the last few years. He wanted to talk to her about the partner that was away in another continent but in a way that they could be calm about it and not stress her too much. Quick as lightning, he got an idea; breaking the silence, he said:

\- "Well, you have proven that you can kick your old man's ass in battle. But, can you kick it in the kitchen?"- He stood up all of a sudden, slightly startling his daughter, except she recognized another challenge in the air and stood up as well.

-"Sure can! I picked a few culinary tricks here and there, you know? I'll have you know that I can make fried rice better than you now, so much that the people that hired me in Vacuo payed me extra so I could cook them a few meals."

-"Pftt, that's it? I once cooked a perfect Lobster for the mayor of Patch, how do you think we got this land?"

\- "Oh yeah? Well I roasted a chicken so good that I made Weiss lick her fingers, WEISS!"

\- "That's nothing! My delicious Mistrali sauce got your uncle so addicted to it, I made him quit drinking for a whole weekend!"

They had raised their voices enough that they were pretty close to shouting and their foreheads were almost close enough to clash against the other. Zwei was so used to their rowdiness that he didn't even flinch at all, that or maybe he was starting to get a bit deaf.

\- "Well, I guess we'll have to see who is the best cook then, dad! Get your best recipes, I'll kick your ass again."- she then got a whiff of the air around them and added.

\- "As soon as I take a shower, I think you should too by the way."- Taiyang laughed loudly.

\- "Yeah yeah, maybe some other day though? I have to go buy more food. I completely forgot how much you eat."- Yang mimicked getting hit in the heart and said:

\- "Oh how you wound me, dad! It's almost like I need a lot of sustenance because of all my hard work!"- they laughed it off and then the blonde woman added: - "For real, though. I will go with you to buy what we'll need, and don't worry, I'll pay for it. I don't want to hear you objecting though, I said it and it's final."- Taiyang looked at her with pride and just nodded at her. As they called Zwei and went inside, Yang finally retrieving the slobbered arm; the older dragon started thinking on how to make his older daughter open up about what had happened all those years ago, when he had been happy to hear she was absolved of what happened in the Vytal Tournament, only to be saddened later, to know that she was doing solo missions in Vacuo. He had heard a few things, but he needed to hear it from her. He only hoped she could trust in him that much.

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 **Just in case, the little dragon joke makes sense if you know what a little dragon is and what was Tai thinking about that xD hopefully you got it, if you didn't eh... maybe google it? maybe not? be ready for some NSFW things if you google it though D: I hope i did the fighting scene some justice, it's the first time i get to describe one xD hopefully my tiny two months of kung fu when i was 6 helped? maybe it was full year of tae-kwon do when i was 7 that did it xD anyways, i hope i didn't bore you with that xD**

 **As always! let me know what you thought of this chapter, I'm starting to move some things along but let me know what you think of that ;) constructive criticism is always appreciated. :) I'll be starting classes again next monday, but I have wednesdays and fridays free, so maybe expect an update on those days? i don't know for sure xD Thank you for reading guys! :D**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys! I'm so sorry it took me this long to update Dx I started the semester strong so i had less time available than i thought, however, i think it won't get worse than this. Thank you all for your concern about the situation on my country, things are a bit better but there's plenty of work to do. I hope you enjoy this chapter; i know some of you were concerned i was gonna drop this fic but worry not! I even made some concepts for some characters and even some... creatures ;) hopefully, i'll be able to upload them soon, if not... perhaps with the next chapter? anyways, I'll leave you to it :) Enjoy! :D**

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If there was a word chosen to represent what she was feeling at the moment, it would have been endless anxiety. Every second ticking by was a second she could have used to get as far away as possible; but if she'd have been driven by the sudden impulses that warred in her head, it would have been a bad choice. Like the many she had taken in her life before.

So she just stood there at the side of the podium, her father was standing beside her, giving his support without question; her assistant was somewhere in the backstage… she could hear her whispering from time to time. It was getting really difficult to control herself in front of the citizens of Menagerie, she wanted to bolt and just go where she was destined to go to; but she had to remain there for a just a little longer, hearing Weiss's best pilot and former resident of Menagerie talk about her story and the benefits of travelling outside the island.

Blake spared a glance in her general direction for a moment or two before redirecting her gaze towards the population. Their reactions had been more or less what they'd been expecting, except for the few traditionalists that had left the plaza as a sign of discontent. Blake couldn't exactly blame them… there was a good reason as to why they didn't want any human stepping foot into their island; the missing ear of a bat Faunus and the many whipping marks on the skin of another with a short bushy tail told a story on its own.

They had their reasons and they were entitled to their opinions; but as luck would have it… so far the people seemed relatively open to get a select few in their shores.

In the midst of her speech, there had been a few vocal individuals, yelling at her to not get cocky and reminding her with their actions that she had yet to explain that they would definitely need more people to help explore and contain the wildlife and grim of the new territories. When she made her point across, some Faunus seemed extremely sceptic, a few others seemed ok with it, and two young ones actually asked for her to bring the one that always sent the pretty boxes.

As elated as Weiss would be about someone actually requesting her presence in the island, Blake knew the little ones had no idea of the problems of the former generation… which actually, was a pretty good thing to think about.

She made sure to let them know that she would solicit an expert and maybe even talk with some of them that she could trust on; some people had scoffed at her and demanded to get the so called councilmen she had talked about previously when recounting the exploits of their path towards equality. She had to remind everyone that those Faunus had their own duties to deal with and that she wouldn't be responsible of detouring them from their hard work in keeping their rights in place.

It was at that point where a few Faunus left, but she was happy to see that most still remained at the plaza. She had been pretty nervous when she starting telling the people that she was going to take a leave to deal with a personal situation that had nothing to do with her position as Chieftess; she had to remind herself to keep her ears in place to not broadcast her feelings about it but she couldn't stop a few sweat beads falling down her brows. They seemed a bit confused about it but when she said that her father would take her place for that period of time, the people seemed a bit more at ease about it.

Now the only thing she had to do was wait for Weiss' pilot to finish talking, tell everyone they could send any inquiries, suggestions and opinions through Yana, and then they could end the meeting at last.

She was listening faintly to what Miss Kirkas had to say; her eyes were drifting over the people gathered in the plaza, but her mind… she was somewhere else.

Blake was reliving everything they had been through; since the moment they first lay eyes in each other that night in Beacon Academy. Blake was ashamed that she had judged Yang as someone entirely different to what she actually was at first glance; she had thought she was one of those obnoxious, stupidly "ignorant about life" girls, the ones that only cared about socializing, their equally loud friends and had no idea about the cruelty of the world and its realities outside the walls. She had been absolutely peeved when she kept interrupting her from reading her book and if it weren't for Ruby speaking up and surprising her with her question and little speech, that would have been it with the two sisters. She had been so surprised; she didn't think until later on what Ruby had said about Yang reading to her every night before bed. It was intriguing to think that someone like that would do such a tender thing, and even though she could see clear as day that Yang cared for her sister, she hadn't known how much.

So when she heard her loud entrance in to the forest, she couldn't keep her curiosity in line, she had to follow her discretely and see what she was like. She realized that she was loud indeed, but so far, she had seemed fearless and perhaps a bit confident on being safe in the forest.

Then came the Ursi and Blake was pleasantly caught off guard when Yang started easily avoiding their claws while having the nerve to even banter with them; however, it wasn't until the sudden burst of flames that she was pretty convinced that this golden girl was a great fighter and had the potential to be a good partner to boot. However, she was worried about one detail… she had acted out of rage against the grim; she didn't want a repeat of the nightmare that had been watching Adam devolve into this monster that she had to escape from. There hadn't been time to think too hard on it though, as Blake saw her opportunity to make her entrance and situate herself with a partner that was capable of decimating a Grim and caring for her family. She would convince herself later that if the rage was directed at the monsters, it wasn't the same as with Adam… unfortunately… she would make the comparison again and set in motion so many bad things that had happened.

Blake took a deep breath and exhaled slowly; she had to keep her composure and not think about her mistakes… she was on her way to fix things and she would do so in a matter of hours. She raised her gaze a bit over the people and the plaza and she was able to see the horizon; somewhere in the distance, there was the one she loved.

Her mind betrayed her once more and showed her Yang again, only this time, it was all the good parts of their story. All about the shade of her eyes and how they sparked with emotion, how much she loved her sister, their team and… how much she seemed to care about her. Yang had helped her time and time again, but since that time in the classroom… something had changed for good… something had shifted slightly and she hadn't realized what it was until she had been looking upon the maimed body of her partner. Blake cared for her, more than she had realized and she was panicked that Adam would come back and finish the job. Kill Yang, kill her team, kill everyone she loved…. And she did love them, and she did love Yang… but Blake hadn't known that she loved her the way her parents loved each other. The way that makes you want to be a better person, only for her.

However, this line of thought was leading her back again to the painful truth. She had let Yang down, she hadn't been a better person, she only took the easier path that would destroy both in the process and bring more pain only to save themselves of bad what ifs and the feeling of being unworthy for the other… Blake only wondered if Yang would accept her apology.

It was at that moment that her father nudged her a bit and she was brought back to reality; the people gathered were looking at her expectantly, she realized that Miss Kirkas was done with her speech and that it was time for Blake to end the meeting.

So she squared her shoulders subtly and took a few steps forward towards the podium, she looked at them for a few seconds to gather her thoughts and said:

\- "Thank you for sharing your experience and for your time, Miss Kirkas. Now, as you have heard, there is plenty of opportunity for all out there, the times are changing and we are working hard to uphold our rights, to shape the world into a place where we can live without fear, and where we can walk alongside humanity as equals. In order to do that, is only fair to try and give them a chance as well. I have been out there, fighting side by side with them against the Grim and against the other evils of this world; we need each other to live safely in Remnant. I'm not asking you to blindly accept what I'm saying, but if you are still doubtful, think about it some more. If all goes according to plan, I'll lead the first official expedition to the green lands beyond the deserts; until then, please let Miss Yana Cuy know any inquiries, suggestions or complaints that you may have about the issues discussed in this meeting. If you wish to, you can speak to the elders and chosen representatives of your sectors and they will discuss this either with Miss Cuy or with Temporal Chieftain Belladonna. I will now conduct the passing of the band and leave you with my replacement."-

At that, Blake turned to the side to face her father and did her last act as Chieftess for the foreseeable future. She reached for the arm band on her right side and slipped it off; the beige cloth with patterns reminding her of the things she had done for her people. She had no place for doubts now though… if this was the last thing she would ever do as Chieftess, she would do it right. So she unfolded the cloth and grabbed it from both extremes, she took one step forward as her father extended his right arm. She tied it into place and looked him in the eyes. His warm golden orbs telling her how proud he was of her. She wanted to smile but reminded herself that this wasn't the moment. So she just nodded slightly at him and took a few steps to the side. Ghira reached the podium and turning slightly towards Blake, he said:

\- "People of Menagerie, Your Chieftess has worked hard so many years to get us where we are now, I'm confident she will display the same dedication to resolve her personal situation and come back to us as soon as she can. Please, let us give a round of applause for your Chieftess, Blake Belladonna."- Blake wasn't expecting her father to say that, and she was less prepared to see her people applauding her and making noise to let her know that she had done good by them. Even some of the groups that she thought were unsatisfied with the things she had done, they were clapping for her. She was a bit overwhelmed, but nonetheless, she graciously nodded her head at them.

After that her father ended the meeting and she was left to her devices. She turned to the side and approached Weiss' pilot. She was wearing a white uniform with her feathered brown tail fanned perfectly comfortable behind her; she had short black hair styled backwards and orange observing eyes that seemed to know why she was approaching her.

\- "Miss Kirkas, thank you truly for coming again. I believe Weiss told you about our arrangement? ". - the pilot nodded at her and said:

\- "Thank you for inviting me, your Grace: I enjoyed the days I spent with my family here and I'm happy to let my brethren know what the world is like now. And yes, Miss Schnee told me to wait for your Grace's orders."- She was going to continue but Blake raised her hand and said:

\- "Please, you can drop the Grace, Miss Kirkas, at this moment I'm just another Huntress in the world. Don't worry about it."- The eagle Faunus smiled at her and kept on talking. - "I can ready the ship in no time if you wish to leave now, Also I was told to let you know that the ship I pilot was built to keep intruders out and to keep the people inside. So, as Miss Schnee said, there's no way to escape mid-flight. I don't know why, but she said I should say that to you."- Blake wasn't sure If she should laugh or fight the impulse to message Weiss right there and then. In that moment, she felt her father's hand on her shoulder and she was reminded she needed to start moving along.

\- "That's fine, please be ready to leave in 20 minutes, Miss Kirkas. I'll catch up with you as soon as possible. Thank you."- The pilot nodded at her, saluted her and turned to leave.

\- "Let's go dad, I want to say my goodbyes."

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Cooking was almost second nature to her. Sure she had been forced by the circumstances to learn how to do it from scratch when she was younger, but later she found out that she enjoyed it a lot. And when she and her dad decided to cook together sometimes on the weekend, she loved the company and loved how well they worked together. Her dad had taught her many recipes, some from his own invention and others from the old cookbook in the second drawer of the left in the kitchen counter. Yang remembered a time where Taiyang had poured his attention to learn to make new things as well as some old ones to help them cope with Summer's absence. Of course, that was after the incident with the wagon; after he realized he had to keep it together for his children.

He was a good cook, but Yang liked to think she was a good one as well, and she hadn't been lying when she told him of her exploits over the world a few days ago. She had learnt so much, she had been ready to show him who was the better cook; but somewhere over their competition, they had fell into old routines and just worked on their separate dishes but talking all the same as if they were having another weekend back when Yang was younger. It was all going pretty nicely until somewhere in their conversation, Taiyang started asking weird things.

\- "So, how were you holding out there, in the real world?"- He was cutting up some cucumbers as he said so. Yang looked up from her mistralian onions frying on the skillet and turned slightly towards him.

-"What real world? You mean what was left after the war? It was ok, I guess? I mean, there were a lot of Grim around in the first year or so but then things started dying out, why?"- She kept on stirring the vegetables to prevent them from sticking to the skillet.

-"Just wondering. You didn't speak much after the trials."- At that, Yang's grip slipped and her wooden spoon hit the edge of the pan. She immediately felt herself getting rigid in the shoulders, and cursed her luck. Of course, he would start asking about that.

\- "Well, my name was clear of all charges. It was time to start working hard out of the gate. I was pretty busy; lots of Grim to kill."- Taiyang hummed to himself and gave her a minute to add anything else. When she didn't, he kept on talking.

-"Alone? I know your sister and Weiss were due to leave after the trial."- He wasn't mentioning the goliath not in the room, but at that point, both blondes were aware of the topic they were tip-toing about.

-"Yes. I had the way paved in front of me so I just hit the road. Literally."- Yang wasn't sure if she could talk about Blake again, especially to her dad. She wasn't sure she could share something that could paint Blake as the bad guy in the story, and she didn't want her father to think badly of her; especially she didn't want him comparing Blake to Raven.

-"Huh. Well, what happened with your other friend? Your partner?"- There it was, the question that Yang was dreading. Having her father refer to Blake as her partner was so weird to think about. If you break contact with your partner, are you even still worthy of being called that? No, you're not.

\- "She told me she wanted to do right by her people. So, it was time to make our dreams true I guess. You can look her up if you want. I've heard she's done great things."- That was positive enough, right? And It was the truth, Yang was the one who had thought they could be more, that they had a future together.

\- "You're burning the onions."- Alarmed, Yang realized she had stopped paying attention to what she was doing; they were salvageable but still, it was something that gave away what was going through her head. She cursed under her breath and started adding the other ingredients.

\- "I did hear that, I heard most of the Faunus look up to her, there are some though that think she has some sort of hidden agenda, but I guess that's just normal for politicians."- The one with the lilac eyes just nodded, focusing more on what she was doing. Taiyang was slicing up some lemons now.

\- "So, she went for her dreams then. Well, I guess that's fair enough. What about you?"- Yang felt she was starting to get upset by his questions. She wasn't stupid, she knew what he was trying to ask.

\- "What about me?".

\- "Is this what you wanted to do? To do solo missions everywhere? I remember you telling me that you wanted to keep your team together before you graduated Signal."- She was gripping the spoon tighter now; luckily, she was gripping it with her left, so she had a modicum of control.

\- "You're right, I wanted that when I was a kid. It's just like you said some years ago… the real world is different. I started doing solo missions because I was apt to do so. Bla…Blake had other plans, so she chose to leave."- At last, the name of the one she had avoided thinking about slipped from her lips. It had been too long since she had actually said her name, it felt a bit foreign on her tongue. She noticed that Taiyang hadn't missed that.

\- "And did Blake let you know that she wanted to do something else?"- Yang sighed as she added the rice she had cooked before.

\- "I was the one that didn't tell her what I wanted to do, so she reminded me of her dreams after the trial, and wished me luck."- She could feel the gaze of her father on her back as she mixed the rice with the vegetables. She knew what was coming.

\- "How long after the trial did she tell you and how long since she told you and left?"- His voice was gruff, like he was making an effort to do so. Yang realized this could become a problem, so she gathered her thoughts before answering.

\- "When were at Beacon, in our second semester… we had a heart to heart… Weiss, Blake and me. We talked about our dreams. I wasn't too sure yet about what I wanted but Blake knew hers well. She wanted to fight for equality, and I knew this for many years. I never thought about how that could mean we would part ways."- She added some soy sauce to her rice and kept on mixing until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and saw her father's blue eyes, they were asking her to be honest if she felt she could trust him, so she did. She sighed, turned the stove off and put her spoon on a plate.

\- "She reminded me 2 days after the trial, before I could… before I could tell her my own plans. I can't deny I was surprised but at the same time… I knew that's what she wanted to do. So she told me that I should follow my own dreams… that maybe after she was done, we would reunite again. Then she told me that she was leaving that day. I didn't stop her, so I let her go."- She could feel the tears at the corners of her eyes, but she didn't want to cry. Her dad was looking at her intently and she wasn't sure what was going through his own mind.

\- "What was your dream, sunshine?"- It was a simple question, and yet… Yang knew that he had an idea of what that was. So she looked up, trying to hold her feelings in.

\- "I… I wanted for us to stay together. I wanted for us to go around the world and just… go Huntressing together, just… keep on going. I…"- her voice was breaking now, but Taiyang didn't move, he was waiting for her to let it all out, so she did.

She couldn't help it anymore and threw herself into her father's arms, she always felt secure there and for better or for worse, he understood her.

\- "I loved her, dad! I wanted to stay together with her and just… live our lives. I loved her but I never told her how much. I didn't get to say it, dad. She was gone… I let her go."- He hugged her back, rubbing her back slowly in circles, like when she was a baby and the only thing they had was each other.

\- "I thought she felt the same, but I was wrong. I… just had to let her go, dad."-She was openly crying now, the tears rolled down her cheeks into the material of his shirt.

\- "Shh… it's ok, I got you sunshine. It's ok,"- Taiyang kept on comforting his daughter. He was trying not to think about his own mistakes but it was hard to do so. He remembered when Raven left, but this was different. Except his daughter was hurting all the same.

A few moments passed and he said:

\- "I remember her, your partner."-He felt his daughter shiver at the word. - "I remember that moment after the war, where your Team came here. She seemed a bit on edge to be on our house, and she seemed more on edge when I talked to her. I thought it was because of the war but maybe… maybe she was worried about what I thought of her, because of your arm."- He shifted slightly and started petting his daughters head. - "But you know what? Whenever you got near her, she seemed to be a bit more at ease. I think she did care for you, Yang. I don't know how much or the nature of this caring, but… she cared enough to tell you that she was leaving. I won't lie to you, I think it's shitty that she did it on such short notice but… she didn't know how you felt, the same way you were not sure how she felt for you. And you know what? You got to say goodbye, and she's alive and secure somewhere else."- It was now his turn to get teary eyed, he tried pushing his own emotions and experiences out of his mind, but it was proving difficult as he hugged his eldest.

-"Dad? I'm sorry."-

\- "Why?"-

\- "Because I made you remember again."

-"Don't worry sunshine. It's all good."- She hugged him harder now, she knew he wasn't fine but such was their nature. They would smile big, joke around a bit and act like everything is good and normal, but deep inside, they're anything but good.

\- "I'm guessing that you went on those missions to clear your head then?"

-"Yeah. I wanted to do anything to keep myself occupied, it hurt too much if I didn't do anything. And… we haven't talked ever since. And I can see why in a way but… it still hurts. There was a time where we didn't know anything about her, but after she became Chieftess, she started communicating with Weiss frequently… and I know she has talked with Ruby…. I guess… this is the most awkward we've ever been about something… that or she just doesn't want to talk to me."- The older blond shook his head and shifted around to kiss his daughter's forehead.

\- "Don't think about that, sunshine. Is there anything else you want to tell me?"- Yang hummed for a bit and said:

\- "Are you mad with her?"- her voice was so small that Taiyang didn't have to ask is she was the one mad with her.

\- "I'm upset that she made you upset, but… I don't think she's evil and I don't think she knew how this would affect you. I could be wrong about it but, like I said before, she did care for you. Maybe deep inside, she still does."

They stayed that way for a few more minutes, until Yang lightly pushed herself off her father's embrace, she dried her tears with her left arm and recomposed her expression.

Her eyes were puffy and red-rimmed, but somehow she felt a bit better.

-"Thank you, dad. I… feel a bit better now."- He nodded at her and dried his own tears. Yang looked around the kitchen and said:

\- "Now, I think we were about to prove how much my cooking has improved and how much you suck, right?"- There it was, that smug expression on her face that he would choose any day above the pain he knew she carried deep inside of her. He smirked back at her and said:

-"Oh really? I remember seeing some onions burning on a pan… or is that something you picked up on Mistral?"- Her smile faltered for a second and then, after comprehension dawned on her eyes, slight anger was displayed on her face.

-"Wait! Were you distracting me on purpose?!"- He only crossed his arms in front of his chest and smiled wide.

\- "You jerk!"- If it meant she was feeling better, the punch he received was worth it.

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\- "Please take care of yourself, dear. And let us know when you arrive! And you can always talk to us if you need anything, please don't hesitate!"-

\- "Kali, Blake will be fine, don't worry. She's a Huntress and a hero of Remnant. But Blake, are you sure you don't need more armor?"- Blake laughed at her parent's antics as she made sure Gambol Shroud was properly hilted at her back.

-"I'll be fine. And no dad, it was bad enough to wear shoulder-guards on my Chieftess outfit, I'm so glad I don't actually need any."- It was time to leave now, so she just gave them both a big hug and turned for the door, she was almost out until she faced them and said:

\- "I'll let you know when I find her, but please… don't ask me until I tell you, ok?"- They nodded in agreement and saw her as she made her way outside her house.

She was ready to run all the way to where Weiss' pilot was waiting, until she saw her assistant waiting outside.

\- "Chief!"- Blake was about to correct her but let it pass when she realized Yana wanted to say something. – "I wanted to wish you luck in whatever it is you are doing. I promise I will do my best to work well with the Chieftain and have everything ready for your return."- Yana's smile was so honest, Blake felt she needed to let her know something else.

-"Yana, thank you. You're a great assistant and I'm sure you'll do great working with my father, but I need to give you a heads up just in case."- Yana was a bit confused but nodded at her all the same. – "I want you to know that there's a chance I won't make it back. If I don't, please… don't let all we've accomplished to fall through the cracks. Do your best. And thank you."- Her assistant was wide-eyed now, her nose scrunching a bit.

\- "I… I'll do my best Chief, for Menagerie, and for you. Please, take care."- Yana extended a hand towards her, a bit hesitant to do so; Blake stared at it for a second and then shook it with her own. She smiled one last time and bolted out towards the ship. As she ran and jumped on the roofs she started thinking about what awaited her on the other side of the world. She started thinking about Yang and what she would say to her. The thought made her stomach turn at the possibility of making things worse, almost telling her to slow down and think it through, but she had enough of that already.

She made a fist and stayed her nerves, she would do it for Yang and that was all that mattered.

So when she got to the ship and Weiss' personal pilot took off immediately, all that was in her mind was the woman she loved, and that was distraction enough to fill her heart with warmth.

She was going to make things right, no matter if she destroyed herself in the process.

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 **Well, i hope you enjoyed it :) please let me know how you felt about the chapter, good or bad, it's ok... i really love reading your reviews so please, let me know if you have any question, critic or opinion :) I hope you have a great day :) thanks for reading! :D**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey guys! Finally! i got some free time to get on with the story :) Thank you so so much for your reviews, they really make my day :D Now, i want to say that this is the longest chapter i've written for this story and this has quickly become my longest and most popular fic overall. I have to thank you for that, it really makes me happy that you guys enjoy the story i've written :) Before i leave you to it though, i want to say that I'm sorry for the emotions I'll cause you today ;) Enjoy! :D**

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There are some things in life that can't be simply delayed; there are other things that can be kept close to your heart and remain there until the right time. For Yang, this was one of those moments.

She was standing in a familiar field, almost at the end of a cliff; overseeing the forests and sky of her Island. Summer's name was still visible on her gravestone, but Yang could see the places where it had cracked and would fall apart someday, somehow.

She was still silent, for she hadn't uttered a word since she had arrived; she was not like Ruby in that regard… it was more difficult for her to pretend that it was Summer's last resting place, instead of a place she had visited a lot when she was still alive.

Yang could see it like it was yesterday. The blanket strewn across the grass, a basket with homemade cooking, a bottle of recently made juice and her family together… all in the same place she was standing right now. Needlessly to say… after Summer died, nothing was the same.

The blonde had conflicting feelings about this place, and when she was young she had to pretend that it didn't affect her at all, for Ruby's sake. She didn't want her sister to forget her mother, she didn't want her to forget that there was once a time where the four of them sat on this very cliff, overseeing everything with the peace and the calm that only Summer could provide. So she came back here with Ruby after Summer died, when they were children… since their dad was too weak emotionally to come along with them; it was Yang who told Ruby that she could talk with her mom, that whatever she decided to share with her, she would know… wherever she was.

Yang snickered darkly, those where some painful memories… and so was one of the last times she had come to visit the gravestone. Before she left for Mistral all those years ago… she came to sort of say goodbye for a while. She told Summer that she was sorry, that she was still thinking that maybe she would cross paths with Raven somehow, but that she was going to search for Ruby. She had apologized for never visiting, like the many other times she had done so… but every time, it got a bit easier to just say those words.

A drift of wind pushed her ponytail to her right side, the tips of it tickling the skin on her maimed arm. She had left the prosthesis back at the cabin. She felt it was time to talk.

\- "Hey Summer. I'm sorry I've been away for so long, mom. I've been huntressing all over the map so… I think you'd understand. "- She shifted her stance and looked up for a moment.

-"I've been… fine. I guess. Well… not quite. I've been a mess but, still keeping it together. I've learned a lot though, so there's that."- the one with the lilac eyes casted them downwards again, unsure of what she was doing but at least aware that talking helped her process things.

-"Thing is… remember Blake? My partner? Well, she moved forward and I guess, so did I. I talked with dad about this too, the old man tricked me but in the end, it was good to talk about it. Well, I've been a reckless person these last few years, but… I'm gonna change things a bit, I'm gonna play it safe now…. Or as safe as I can but still protecting the people."- she tried to smile but it proved difficult, there was still so many things in her heart that she couldn't voice, so she settled for mentioning a few things.

\- "I think that I realized something… but only after I held little Blau-ie; Ruby told me she came by with her to say hi to you. I realized that I want to protect the people like I do for those I love… but, I also want to protect the children, the future. To be honest, I don't know and maybe will never know if I'm fit to be a mother… a real one; but if I can protect the children, then maybe that will be enough? You were the best mother anyone could ever have, and I'm glad you were mine, even though you didn't have any obligation to love me, but…"- she had tried to keep her composure, but when a few tears rolled down her cheeks, she knew it was a futile attempt, so she just let her voice break again. – "…you did love me, like I was really yours. I can't lie, I doubted your love for so many years, I hurt myself thinking time after time that you felt obligated… that maybe when I couldn't see you, you despised what my existence meant, that you hated me instead. But I know now, with certainty, that you loved me and I'm really thankful for that, you were the best mother I've ever known but… At the same time, I'm scared that I'm my mother's daughter… I know it's silly, but… I'm like her in some ways… who is to say I won't be like her in that way too."- She dried her tears with her left hand and took a seat in front of Summer's grave, reconnecting her thoughts.

\- "I'm going to be visiting Ruby and Weiss in a few days, and after that… I'm not sure yet. This may be the last time I come by in a while. But you know what? I've decided that if I ever come across a view like this, a cliff like this? Then that is the place where you'll be able to hear me, or at least… that will be the place I can pretend you are listening to me. I may go west… back to Vacuo… there are some nice views over there, but Anima's forests look similar to the ones on this Island… but even if I go back to Atlas instead, and all the view I have is endless glaciers, then that would be the place as well. I guess, what I'm saying is… bye, for now. But only for a while, until I find a good place to talk."- She stood up with a bit of effort, somehow tired by the one-sided conversation.

\- "I wish I could explain to you why I'm alone like this… but I get the feeling that you know the answer better than me."- she nodded at the gravestone and said before turning: - "Goodbye, mom.".

As she turned to leave though, she felt something odd. It wasn't a phantom pain like the ones she was used to by now, but she felt somehow, like something had grazed her missing arm; it almost felt like small leaves, soft… almost like…

\- "Rose petals."- she mumbled in wonder. In her mind she was raising her missing hand close to her face, like inspecting something that wasn't there. She turned to look at the gravestone once again but it looked exactly the same. So she stood there for a few more seconds, dumbfounded… until she decided it was time to come back. She looked upwards again to the vast sky, but this time, she was smiling softly.

\- "Thank you, mommy."- The Huntress, turned around, and started walking back.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

She doubted she could be any more anxious than what she was at the moment. She was this close to call Weiss and explain all the things that could go wrong in their encounter; it was only natural that she started thinking about those once she was in a close environment with nothing to do but think about every scenario that could go absolutely wrong. At some point, she had stood up and started pacing up and down the small isle at her disposition; trying to keep herself entertained was impossible and she felt helpless when she looked outside the window. The pilot had even questioned her a few times if she felt alright, since she had video feed in her cabin of what Blake was doing, Blake had nervously tapped a button on the wall to tell her that she was fine and that how much longer it would take to reach Patch. The flight was supposed to last somewhere around 7 hours, but the single number that had meant little before had somehow enlarged itself in the grand scheme of relative time, so Blake felt like it was lasting so much longer, it felt ridiculous. Miss Kirkas had explained to her a few times that some air currents were creating a major resistance against the ship, and if she had to fly higher to avoid them, it would be cutting it close to where Dust doesn't function anymore.

She had been pacing nervously for a number of hours now, trying her hardest not to grab her scroll and do something stupid. But she felt nauseous, a bit dizzy at times and her heart seemed to accelerate and decelerate at its own pace and will. She had a hard time controlling herself but the thought of finally talking to Yang, seemed to help alleviate what she was feeling.

Suddenly, she heard the slightly distorted voice of the eagle Faunus in her compartment.

\- "Ma'am, we are getting close to our destination, the ETA is 30 minutes. I'm flying as fast as I can but I'm still sorry for any inconveniences."- Blake almost tripped over herself as she ran to push the button to respond.

\- "N-no don't worry! You have been doing great. Thank you for letting me know."- a few seconds passed until she responded. – "Thank you, Ma'am. Let me know if you need anything else. If that is all, Adler over and out."- Blake sighed deeply and turned to look outside one of the windows. She had been so focused on her pacing and her thoughts that she hadn't noticed that the landscape had changed somewhere along the way. She was looking now at the green forests and mountains of the continent of Sanus, she didn't have too much time to look at any details though, since Weiss' pilot was travelling steadily fast to get her to Patch.

Blake brought a hand to her forehead and tried to center herself. She had all this time to think on what would be the first thing she would say when she would have Yang in front of her again, but she was drawing a blank now. What would anyone say really? Hello? I'm sorry I left you? I'm sorry I messed up because I was scared? I'm sorry I came looking for you but you are over what happened? She was sweating and her left ear was twitching madly above her head. No matter what she said, she knew the ears would give away instantly what she was feeling. She could trick an entire group of Faunus, but she knew Yang could tell what was going on with her. That was it though, she was truly scared of what Yang would say to her, of what she would do. What if she turned around and ignored her entirely? She shook her head no a few times. No, Yang wouldn't do that. She was better than that, but still… Blake couldn't help but imagine it.

Then, the worst was thinking about her feelings. Blake knew how she felt herself but wasn't sure if Yang ever felt the same as her. It could have been that she cared a lot for her as a friend and that was that. Maybe she would listen to her confession, perhaps she would forgive her, and then tell her that she had a life now… a different path and it was all thanks to Blake. If that was it, then Blake would just accept her fate. Perhaps she would go visit Weiss and Ruby and then go back… maybe stay for a bit and ask them for suggestions about her plans for Menagerie and the new lands. Maybe she could even go to the one of the new CCT towers and issue her offer for a mission… she would have to talk to her father about that though, taking into consideration that at that very moment, she was only Blake Belladonna and not an authority of Menagerie.

She brought her hand down and looked again outside her window. Soon enough, she saw them cross a body of water and then go back to shores and green forests.

-"Ma'am. We'll be arriving in 5 minutes. I have to slow down in this area because of the terrain. When I drop you off, do you wish for me to stay or to go back to the base?"- Blake reached for the button again, this time her hand was a bit shaky.

\- "Uh, stay until I tell you otherwise. Thank you, Miss Kirkas."- Blake looked outside again, waiting for the pilot's answer. – "Alright, I will do as you say, Ma'am. ETA is 3 minutes now. Please be mindful of the stairs when you step down. Adler over and out.".

Blake could see it now, the forests near the Xiao Long residence. She had only seen them once before, after the war was over. Ruby and Yang had demanded they had to visit, Blake had been adamant to meet the man that had raised Yang and had probably seen the damage Blake had indirectly caused to her. He had seemed pretty neutral towards her and she was glad for that; Yang had told her not to worry, but she was still hesitant.

Blake crossed her fingers behind her head, stretching a bit with the movement and trying to keep her emotions in check. Soon enough, they approached a field next to what could only be the cabin she was thinking about before. Seeing it this close made her feel a knot in her throat. Somewhere inside, there was Yang, unaware of her visit. Unaware that the person that had left her behind out of fear was back again, thrusting herself into her life; trying desperately to fix things before it's too late.

The ship landed and she heard the pilot's voice letting her know that the door would open in a few seconds; and when it did, she was almost blinded by the orange hues reflected on the surface of the ship as she stepped down the stairs that had sled under the door. The sun was still up on the sky, but the color of it revealed that it was the late afternoon. She took a few more steps and could feel it now, the shiver that was going up and down her whole body. She was tense as all hell and she got reasons to be; her shoulders were a bit higher than normal, and her fists were clenching and unclenching against her will. But her ears though, those told a more evident story; they were as far back as they could be, almost flat against her scalp. She bit her lip and reminded herself to keep walking forward. She hadn't come all this way only to freeze outside Yang's home.

She could hear the engines of the ship dying down as she moved towards the entrance of the cabin, her nerves still high on alert, catching every sound of every leave and movement of the dirt beneath her boots, the way her own heartbeats where dwarfing every other sound until there was nothing but the THUMP THUMP of her heart.

Before she had realized, she was standing directly in front of the door. She raised a shaking hand and knocked on the door two times with enough force to be heard. A few seconds passed and she heard a muffled voice somewhere in the cabin, it was male and somewhat known to her. For a dumb moment she thought who could that be, until she realized it was probably just Taiyang. The thought wasn't calming thought, as she remembered the last time she had been under his gaze. If she had been nervous then, oh boy, she was definitely losing her calm quickly. Still, it bought her a little time to think on what to say.

Soon enough, she heard him close to the door: - "Yeah? Who is it?"- and just like that, the door opened and there was Yang's father. He looked the same except for the beard he sported now and the white hairs on it; she looked him in the eyes and a spark of recognition appeared in his eyes.

\- "You are…"- before he could say anything good or bad, she interrupted him.

\- "Yes, Mr. Xiao Long. It's me, Blake. Before you do or say anything, please… I need to speak to Yang, I've travelled far because I need to talk to her, could you please call her?"- she was a bit proud that she had kept her voice more or less on the same tone and level, but she knew that she probably looked nervous still. He seemed baffled by what she had said, and only after a few seconds, he finally grimaced a bit… he crossed his arms and looked her in the eyes as he said: - "She's not here, but…Why are YOU here? I thought you were at Menagerie."- the black haired huntress realized he probably thought something weird was going on.

\- "Mr. Xiao Long, I came to speak with Yang because I've kept something from her for too many years, she deserves to know about it, and …I've left Menagerie in good hands, whether I come back… or not."- She saw something change in his demeanor, he looked somewhere between surprised and hurt; she didn't have time to ponder on that though, as she asked again: - "Please, I don't mean any harm if that's what you are thinking. I never meant to hurt Yang in any way and I need to fix that, so… could you let her know, when she comes back that I'm waiting for her? I could wait somewhere else if my presence bothers you."- she didn't think he would go that far but she said it anyways just in case. He still looked troubled for some reason. He sighed and brought a hand to the back of his head, the motion very familiar to Blake, since Yang always did that whenever she was nervous or troubled by something.

\- "Blake, I don't know what it is but… I'm guessing it's something really important if you came all this way. However, I don't think you understood what I meant."- Blake was at a loss now, it must have showed in her face because he squared himself to elaborate further.

-"Blake, Yang left 3 days ago. She's not here."

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\- "What, did you get tired of me already? Come on! You haven't even had lunch yet! I was gonna make you a dish that would put everything you know to shame!"- he laughed but inside he felt a bit worried, it wasn't like Yang to suddenly declare she would leave early.

-"I'm fine dad, and for the record, my cooking is better than yours no matter what you say. It's been great hanging out with you these few weeks, but I was thinking I need to get back in the game. I can't get my work out unless I punch the hell out of a Grim for a change, that and I have to get my baby out of that dirty place. Don't worry though! I'll call more often from now on. Depending of where I go, I could be visiting you again in a few months, who knows!"- he crossed his arms and rolled his eyes at her.

\- "Oh come on now! It's because of the Vacuan chicken, right? Are you mad because I plan to take the recipe to the grave, is that it?"- Yang laughed at him and gave him a light jab on his shoulder guard.

-"Yeah yeah yeah sure! In your dreams old man. It's not that, but if it makes you feel better, Yes, the Vacuan chicken was out of this world."- she turned to go gather her things when she felt his hand on her shoulder.

\- "You are gonna take care of yourself, right? No more playing around with Grim? No more look at me I can fight with one arm bravado, right?"- She turned towards him and surprised him with a hug.

\- "I'm an elite Huntress dad. The Dragon Huntress. I didn't get that nickname by playing with the Grim, I'll be fine. Thanks for worrying about me though, I can't make any promises but I'll keep in touch more often." – Taiyang smiled and hugged her back. Sometimes it was hard to remember that the baby he had held all those years ago, was a full grown woman now. Someone who took her choices and dealt with the consequences. He was as proud as he was worried, but he believed in her.

\- "Ok sunshine, I understand."

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Every emotion that had accumulated in the last 7 hours, fell with the weight of a hundred Goliaths over her. She was almost blinded by the moment, and it wasn't until she felt Taiyang grabbing her arm that she realized she had tumbled backwards.

-"Hey hey, it's ok. I got you, are you ok? You look too pale for someone that lives in a tropical Island."- he weakly laughed as he tried to engage her in light conversation, he was the worried one now; he could feel her shaking.

\- "Hey kid, why don't you take a seat, have you eaten something?"- Blake looked him in the eyes and saw only concern now, she had to do something.

\- "She's gone? Where? What happened? What?"-

\- "Hey calm down, just take it easy. She got bored and decide to leave a bit early, she's fine. I know where she's headed and I'll tell you but first let me offer you something to eat. Do you like…?"- whatever he was gonna ask was cut by Blake, as she eased her arm out of his gentle grip.

\- "Please! I have to go look for her! I'm ok, I just, really need to get to her. Please, Mr. Xiao Long, it has to be now!"- He looked in the eyes for what it felt like the hundred time in the lapse of a few minutes. He sighed and looked upwards, seemingly annoyed for a second.

\- "Ok, you youngsters are too alike and too much for me to handle. Fine, Blake. I'll let you go and tell you where she has gone to, but let me at least give you some food for the road. How long has it been since you last ate? I swear you almost passed out."- Blake was grateful for his honesty and was reminded for a moment of her own parents. She tried to remember how long did it take her to give her speech and realized she hadn't had a drop of water during it all.

-"Thank you. It's probably been somewhere over 11 hours."- he winced at her and started walking back into the cabin.

\- "That's not good, please, get inside for a moment, take a seat if you want."- she thanked him but remained standing, she didn't have time to lose and sitting down meant she wasn't in a hurry.

\- "Thank you, but please, I need to know… where did she went to?"

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Ruby loved her wife more than she could properly say, and she admired her passion and her will to do the things she did daily in Vale. But there were a few times where she wondered how Weiss' brain worked. Weiss had always been the most studious of the team back in Beacon; it was no secret that she studied really hard and had a good memory when it came to facts, dates, numbers and all sorts of things. That had transferred neatly to other areas when she took the company back. She preferred to work as a Huntress, but she had seen how necessary it was to take back the company her grandfather had started. So she kept in mind different contracts, deals, treaties and many other things. Some work was relegated to the director of each branch in Remnant, but they all reported to her and she kept her knowledge as sharp as possible. Which is probably why, she had had a tendency to forget objects, files and other things in the last 2 years or so. This time, Weiss had forgotten a file that may or may not be needed later in that night's meeting. She had contacted Ruby to let her know that she might send someone over to pick up the file just in case. Normally Weiss would go back to pick up whatever it was that she had left forgotten but she had been really busy on the last few days.

So when the doorbell rang, Ruby approached the entrance of their home with the file on hand and just opened the door. She didn't expect to see her.

-"Blake? What the…?"- Weiss had told Ruby that Blake wanted to make things right with Yang, so she had decided to help her taking into consideration some things Blake had confided in her. Ruby had been a bit sceptic, but only because she didn't want to see her sister hurting. What baffled her though, was to see Blake in her hall.

\- "Ruby, please, is she here?"- She looked her up and down; she was pale, seemed to be sweating and if her eyes weren't playing tricks on her, she seemed a bit shaky. Still, her focus went to why the hell wasn't she on Patch at the moment

\- "What? Weiss is not here. What are YOU doing here? Did you coward out? What's going on?"- Why the hell was Blake on their house was a question that had seemed to blind Ruby's judgement for a second. She cared for Yang's well-being and that was clouding everything else.

\- "Please Ruby, is Yang here? She left Patch 3 days ago, your dad told me… she was… heading here."- It was at that moment that Ruby realized that Blake seemed out of breath for some reason. She took her appearance into focus and realized that Blake was holding her weight against the frame of the door. Ruby brought her hand forward and placed it on Blake's forehead.

\- "Blake, your forehead is all clammy! What are you….?"- Blake interrupted her again, shaking her head.

-"Is she here or not? I have to… I have to tell her… I…"- Ruby saw more clearly now, that Blake needed to calm down; she was breathing too quickly to be getting enough oxygen in her system. What was this about Yang though…? Her sister was supposed to visit in a few days and she hadn't received any communication from her. First things first, though… she had to keep Blake calm; luckily, Blau was sleeping at the moment and she could take care of Blake freely.

\- "Ok, I need you to calm down Blake, you look like you could keel over. Let's sit down on the couch and talk about this, ok?"- Blake seemed conflicted, but relented anyway. She took a deep breath and strode forwards on what appeared to be their living room. She sat down on the single couch and Ruby took a seat in front of her; looking her up and down in case she fainted or something. It seemed her breathing was getting close to normal after a few seconds, until she widened her eyes and seemed to realize something.

\- "Ruby, I'm so sorry for dropping on you like this; I went to Patch to talk with Yang and she wasn't there. Your dad told me she left 3 days ago and that she was supposed to come here. I would have called or texted any of you but I didn't want Yang to know I was coming… I'm sorry."- Her ears drooped a bit and Ruby found out that she couldn't be too mad at her.

\- "Weiss told me what you were doing, so it wasn't completely unexpected. Yang is not here though."- at that, Blake seemed to get back on alert; Ruby tried to quickly defuse the situation. – "Look, It's nothing to worry about. She's probably somewhere in Vale, killing time or taking care of some business. She'll probably come here in a few days, in the meantime…"- she was going to say that if Blake wanted to see her, then maybe she should wait until Yang got to their house; but Blake beat her to it.

\- "I'm gonna go look for her."- She seemed like she wanted to stand up. Ruby was confused and worried.

-"Wait! Why are you…?"

\- "It's been too long Ruby; I can't wait anymore. I have to find her and tell her; she really needs to know what I have to say."- Ruby squinted her eyes at her, trying to get a read on her reasons, she hummed slightly and said: - "Why? Why does she need to know? Why do you need to tell her as soon as possible?"- It was the moment of truth for Ruby to know what were Blake's intentions. She really didn't want to see her sister hurt again, and if Blake was doing this to get a clean conscience and run away again somewhere else; they were gonna have a few words.

\- "Because she needs to know the truth of why I left; she deserves to know that I… I wasn't sincere with her, and as much as it killed me and has haunted me all these years, she's the one that needs to know. As long as she is happy, I don't care if I get my heart broken; as long as I know she's good, then I can live with it."- Ruby's silver eyes seemed to pierce through Blake's soul; seemingly determining her fate in a way. Blake wasn't stupid, she was kind of expecting Ruby to be more skeptic about her intentions, but she was glad that at least she seemed to care for her wellbeing if she got invited to sit on her living room.

Ruby seemed to be weighting a few things on her mind, trying to reach to some conclusion.

\- "I could call her to her scroll… find out where she is, if you want?"- Blake's eyes widened at Ruby's offer, she was the one observing Ruby's actions now. There wasn't any contempt or dislike on her face, so there was some hope that she hadn't messed up their friendship as well.

\- "You would do that?"- the way she said it, with awe and a bit of sadness intermingled, brought Ruby back to observing her distanced friend. Blake was shrinking under her gaze, like she had expected Ruby to lash out at her with her words. The one with the red cape realized that Blake probably thought that she was upset with her; but in reality, after hearing all she had said and looking at her body language, Ruby knew Blake didn't mean any harm to anyone; if anything, she seemed pretty hurt herself. So finally, Ruby smiled at her for the first time since so long ago and said: - "Of course, I'm always willing to help a friend out."- She could see the emotion swelling on Blake's eyes as she tried to not show what she was feeling and failing miserably.

\- "Thank you, Ruby. I'm sorry I…"- Ruby interrupted her-.

\- "Save the apologies for after you're done talking to my sister, I'm gonna get my scroll."- As she stood up, she saw at the corner of her eyes that Blake wanted to say something, so she motioned for her to speak.

\- "Could you please… get me a glass of water? Your dad gave me food but, I really need some water."- Ruby raised an eyebrow in thought but finally caught on that Blake's voice didn't use to sound that raspy. She smiled at her and went to the kitchen; a few minutes later she was back with the glass and her scroll. She gave it to Blake and started making her call. Blake instantly started drinking, but keeping focus on Ruby's words.

\- "Hey, sis? What's up? Dad called asking if you got here alright; are you in town?"

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Dealing with Junior was something she dreaded to some extent. First of all, he had decided that he could sue her for the first time she destroyed his bar all those years ago. Seeing that she was a well payed Huntress now and that he could probably tarnish her image again with something she had done when she was a teen, it was an easy way to get her cash money. Second of all; after they had heavily discussed if she trashed his bar because she couldn't get what she wanted or if it was personal defense against the goons that had clearly surrounded her; they arranged something. Junior had fled Vale after the fall, but when he returned a few years ago, he had tried his hand at another kind of business. He had some sort of lodging place; some kind of Motel mixed with a Storage; seemingly that was all it was, but Yang knew better than some officials in Vale and could see that the rats always came crawling back to the places they had been before. Of course, there was a hidden subterranean nightclub somewhere. So they struck a deal, in compensation for what he had lost, Yang payed him a sum of money to keep one his storages with her stuff and sometimes Bumblebee if she was staying for a while, and a room available if she felt like it; in exchange, Yang always got her Strawberry Sunrise with no ice and a little umbrella every time for free when she passed by. It wasn't the best deal but hey! She finally got her drink! It was the fact that they always provided her with one that made her realize there was a bar somewhere in the property.

This time she had decided to go back to Vale early; she didn't want her baby to start rusting in Junior's shoddy storage place. So she got there a couple of days ago and payed her tab. Junior looked the same only he had decided to dress all in black; she would've give him hell for dressing like his real name hinted at but she would've been a hypocrite for it. She did dress sunny and they did call her the Dragon Huntress, while her last name meant little dragon so… it was a Moon Moon kind of joke that Yang found both amusing and growing fearful of someone pointing it out to her.

She was currently stretching on her bed with her Huntress gear on; she had been out all the day in a few huntressing jobs here and there. Little things really; someone spotting a small nevermore near their house; someone saying they had heard a Beowulf howling in the distance in their way to the city and she even responded to a small call for searching and destroying a big Boarbatusk in Forever Fall. Small little things for a renowned Huntress like herself but still, her job nonetheless. She had just arrived when she got a call from Ruby, asking where she was. It's not like she didn't want to visit her sister, it was just that she had wanted a few days to herself, to get her stuff in order and plan where she would go to next. She had been to the CCT new building and checked on bigger jobs apart from the little ones in town. There were a few interesting ones, like an Extermination mission to the East of Mantle and one North of Mistral that was categorized as Search and destroy, level 5. That meant dangerous grim and dangerous people. There was a chance that Raven's tribe might be involved but Yang didn't want to think too much on it.

She was resting her back against the bed frame, sitting on her pillows with her legs stretched forward and with both arms behind her head; when she heard a knock on the door. She didn't bother opening her eyes and called for the person to come in.

She heard someone entering and leaving something on the small table near the door, then she heard the door closing again. She opened her eyes and saw what she was expecting, her Strawberry sunrise.

She sighed and got up to get it. She had been waiting for one of Junior's goons to get her drink ten minutes ago; so she was glad she had it now, only when she approached she realized something.

-"Really? Damnit." There was an umbrella but there was also a couple of ice cubes floating on her drink. The drink she always specified was supposed to have no ice on it. She liked her drink with no water, thank you. She could just take out the ice cubes but the point was that she was supposed to get what she had asked for.

She heard another knock on the door and got ready to demand a perfect drink this time. So she opened the door and said:

\- "Hey! you better bring me…"- It was like being struck by lightning or like when you get sucker punched in a fight; for Yang never expected to see, at the door of her rented room in downtown Vale, the one and only woman she had ever loved. Looking like she was gonna faint at any moment and her ears as back and down as they would go. And yet somehow, still the most beautiful person Yang had ever known.

\- "Y-Yang. I… I …". - Was this real? Had Yang somehow died in the forest fighting that Boarbatusk? Had she hit her head somewhere? Had she fallen asleep in the bed? There was no way Blake was real, that she was here, in front of her, pale as a sheet and seemingly scared. When she was supposed to be in Menagerie, miles and miles away from her. With the people she led, living her dreams. So she extended her left hand, slowly towards her, to make sure this wasn't a hallucination or a nightmare, like the hundred nightmares she's had before of Blake showing up only to disappear once again. She reached for her face but when she felt the air leaving Blake's mouth in a quick exhalation, she knew it was real and dropped her hand; she was flabbergasted but she could feel some emotions trying to breach her confusion.

\- "Do you… Can… "- Apparently, Blake had trouble to speak correctly as well. – "Please… Can we… talk?"

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 **Well... that was a thing :) I'm sorry if the chapter seems a bit choppy on some parts but i had to stop myself time and time again to not leave it at a worst cliffhanger than the one you got xD Seriously xD Also, did i trick you? :D? the first 6 or so chapters were all chronologically close but somewhere down the line, i shifted the pace of some parts ;) If i did, please let me know xD as always, i love reading your reviews, specially when i have to wait a week to keep working on this story Dx it's a bit of torture when i get an idea at the wrong moment Dx anyways, Thank you for everything guys, and thanks for reading! :D**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello guys! I'm so sorry i couldn't update this past sunday, but I felt like I was running out of time and kinda blocked myself as I was writing. I realized there was no point into rushing a chapter for the sake of meeting a self-imposed deadline when it was such an important one. So i took more time and here we are now xD again, I'm really sorry. I loved you reviews guys, I know you're probably thinking I'm stalling for you to read the chapter, and maybe I am xD anyways, read the end notes for some... author notes xD Enjoy! :D**

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It felt like time had stopped and along with it, so had Yang's breathing. It was too unreal, too good to be true… to actually believe that Blake had suddenly appeared in front of her so out of the blue, when she was supposed to be so far away… that it would make it easier for Yang not to think about her. But her eyes couldn't be tricking her know, she had made sure by virtue of feeling Blake's breath pass between her fingertips that she was really there, less than a meter away from her… asking to… what had she said?

Her mind was trying hard to focus but she was too overwhelmed; thankfully she had peered over her drink and not held it before opening the door, otherwise it would have been shattered on the floor at the moment. Her gaze was somewhere on Blake's direction but she was too shocked still to talk; however, a rush of feelings started clawing inside of her, fighting for dominance so she could express at least one of them. Sadness, anger, happiness, confusion and fear all whirled up inside her, making her listen to her own heartbeats ringing in her ears somehow.

Blake was still standing there, shrinking into herself and her ears as far and as down as they would go. She seemed pale, somewhat scared and actually a bit shaky. It occurred to Yang that maybe Blake was scared of her? Did her eyes change color without her noticing? That hadn't happened to her in so many years that it would be a bad sign of her control slipping, so she briefly glanced towards the small mirror next to the door. Her eyes were her regular lilac; even if her expression was still confused. Before she could think more about that, Blake's harsh breathing got her attention.

She seemed like she had run all the way from Menagerie by her breathing pattern, and there were a few beads of sweat on her forehead; she was wearing black knee high boots with metal toes and knee protectors; a white shirt over a black top of sorts and what seemed like a black scarf wrapped around her neck. She had black cloth covering both arms, solid black on her right and a silver stripped one on her left. She could see gambol shroud on her back and her hair was a bit tied away from her face on the sides. She was beautiful but at the same time, she seemed a little sick. At that moment, Yang felt something she hadn't felt in a very long time for her ex-partner: concern.

\- "Are you alright? Do you need to sit down?"- If Yang were to be honest with herself, Blake seemed like she would pass out any moment now. It reminded her of a time where she had been burning herself out when Roman Torchwick had been their biggest concern. Back on the time where she had told her personal details of her past so she would realize she was hurting herself with exhaustion; back when Yang had trusted her with a part of her weaknesses and Blake had listened to her for real. Back on a time were everything was so much simpler than now.

Blake widened her eyes for a bit and confusion reflected on them. Yang felt the need to reach out and touch her, to held her and guide her to rest; but she wasn't sure what was going on yet.

-"What? Uh… I don't know. I hoped you could listen to me for a bit? If that's alright with you I mean."- It was a weird and awkward situation and both seemed to be aware of this. Yang realized now that was probably what Blake had asked her when she opened the door, to talk with her. After all these years? A frown made its way into her face; her eyebrows curving down on the middle.

\- "You look bad, just… take a sit."- Blake seemed doubtful about entering or not, so when Yang motioned with her prosthesis to come inside, Blake relented and did as asked. Yang stayed to close the door behind her and took the moment to take a deep breath and try to control her emotions. She wanted to ask her why she was there; and why come to her in the first place but, at the same time, she felt some of her anger trying to reach out… so she stayed silent for a moment. She heard Blake taking a sit on the edge of the motel bed and finally turned around to look at her. The blonde decided to put her weight on the door, reclining her back on it; whether it was because of the fear of watching her leave again or because her legs refused to move, she wasn't sure.

Blake seemed nervous and uncomfortable; the paleness of her face contrasting with her golden eyes, eyes that were looking everywhere but Yang.

\- "Is someone chasing you?"- Her question seemed to jolt Blake out of her trance, making her look at her.

\- "What?"

\- "It looks like someone chased you here, but I guess if that were the case you would have been surprised to find me here."- Yang didn't trust her mind to make a sound analysis without going on a tangent about her own emotions, so she decided to voice her thoughts.

\- "No one is chasing me, I was looking for you, Yang."- At that, Yang felt a heat rising up to her throat; it wasn't a good feeling, more like she felt vile reaching to spew out of her mouth. She took a few seconds and asked:

\- "Why?"- She looked at Blake again but the Faunus redirected her gaze towards the ground, seemingly unable to look her in the eyes.

\- "Because there is something you had to know. I… I need to tell you something in person but, I need to know first if you want to hear it. I can see that you are… upset with me, so if you want me to leave, I will."- Yang had a difficult time understanding what Blake was trying to say without letting her emotions show. Emotions that she didn't even understand herself.

\- "Why?"

\- "Huh?"

\- "Why, after all this time…"- Yang felt her throat closing up, but she needed to say it. – "… why are you here? You could have written to me. If it was important… you should have told me years ago. So… I guess what I mean is…"- She wasn't sure any more of what she was trying to say, she realized she had gripped the handle of the door sometime between closing it and now, she could hear the handle shaking so she let go of it. It was telling that she needed to fiddle with something as she grew anxious, so she crossed her arms in front of her and looked up at the ceiling.

\- "I thought you wanted to do your own thing. It's surprising, to see you at my door. When the last time I saw you, you told me that we should part ways. I respected that, I didn't contact you either, thinking that maybe you would… sometime."- Yang was trying to keep her voice at the same level, but it seemed more difficult with every word. She could see at the corner of her eyes, how Blake was squirming in place.

\- "There's no easy way to say this, Yang; but I… wasn't honest with you,"- that tore Yang's eyes off the ceiling and back to the Faunus sitting on the bed.

\- "What do you mean?"- A myriad of thoughts crossed her mind, each and every one worse than the last. Blake took a deep breath and said:

\- "I lied to you, after the trial. I wasn't thinking about my dreams when I left."- Yang felt like she had slapped her in the face, so she uncrossed her arms and took a step forwards.

-"What? I don't… I don't understand."- Blake refused to meet her eyes and Yang couldn't take it. - "I thought that's what you wanted. Why did you leave then?". - Yang crouched low and searched her gaze, but Blake wouldn't meet it. So she felt the pain again, that slow but scorching force that dragged itself through Yang's heart all over again. So she looked away as well and mumbled: - "What did I do so wrong that made you leave?". She didn't intend for Blake to hear such a pitiful question, but it was burning such a hole inside of her she couldn't stop herself.

\- "What?"- Blake had heard it of course, and had asked her confused by it. – "Yang? Why are you saying that?". - Yang had sat down the floor in front of her, but Blake couldn't see her face well.

-"There's no other reason for you to leave. I always thought that you wanted to do things your way and, yes it did hurt that you left me there, alone… without a warning, without any reason other than that you wanted to follow your dreams so… If you are telling me that it wasn't true, then the only reason must be me. I'm the reason you left."- Yang couldn't help the tears from streaking down her cheeks now. Her voice had broken somewhere in the middle of her little speech, she was clutching the zipper of her jacket with her left hand, so hard she would have hurt herself if she wouldn't have any aura. She was trying so hard not to have a full break down than she didn't notice Blake standing up and sitting next to her on the floor until she felt a shaky hand on her shoulder.

\- "How can you say that? You did nothing wrong Yang! I left because I was scared!"- Blake's voice was growing desperate with each word but Yang was still trying and failing to maintain her composure than she didn't notice it. – "I was too scared and too stupid to think that this wouldn't affect you, but…!"- That brought back Yang to reality and she could feel the anger rising up now.

\- "That it wouldn't affect me? You left me again Blake! I was there! All alone in that bench, crying my eyes out because I wasn't worthy of your company!"- Blake's eyes widened and Yang could see tears gathering there.

\- "You weren't…? worthy?"- Blake would have tried, but It was too late to stop herself. - "I'm the one that wasn't worthy of you! Look at mE YANG! LOOK AT WHAT I'VE DONE TO YOU! ALL BECAUSE I'M A STUPID COWARD AND I DIDN'T EVEN TELL YOU THAT I…"- One moment Blake was letting her emotions get the best of her, and at the next…It was like she had been paralyzed by an unseen force, like she had paused mid-sentence. Yang realized too late that there was something wrong, when she turned to look at her and was met with the image of Blake's eyes rolling back into her skull and falling backwards to the ground. Yang reacted quickly and threw herself to hold her before her head touched the floor.

-"Blake? BLAKE!".

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Weiss had arrived to her home a few hours after Blake had left in a hurry to find Yang and was now holding her darling but groggy daughter in her arms, she was speaking softly to her and bringing her to the living room, where her wife had been looking out the window for at least half an hour now. She reached Ruby and said:

\- "Are you still worried?"- The one with the silver eyes turned slightly towards her and she could see that she was bothered by something.

\- "Yes, It's been hours now, Weiss. I'm worried about them but I'm also worried about Blake. You didn't see her, Weiss, she looked like could fall down at any moment. It was like that time at the Academy but worse, she was shaking, Weiss! I think… I have a feeling that she's sick. I worry that maybe she didn't get to Yang. What if she keeled over somewhere? What if…?"- Weiss placed one of her hands on her cheek and caressed it softly with her thumb.

\- "Calm down Ruby, if she was in such a hurry to reach her I doubt something like that would have stopped her. I can leave her a message on her scroll or we can contact Yang just in case. She's been stressing over this for such a long time, it probably started messing with her head. Add to it the fact that she just left Menagerie in the middle of very important changes and that she took a flight directly to Patch. If she's with Yang already, she's the best person to take care of her. We have to have faith in them Ruby, I do, and I hope that after this we can all be together again."- Ruby had kept quiet through it all but she couldn't help but fret over the situation. It wasn't until she felt the tiny hand of Blau on her other cheek that she noticed her daughter was no longer groggy; instead she had her eyes fully open and something akin to a smile on her face. Those icy blue eyes, the same color of her other mother, bringing her calm and comfort.

\- "That's right Blau! We are here for mommy and to stop her from worrying too much."- their daughter made a sweet sound and Ruby felt her heart melt all over again. She grabbed both their hands in her own and whispered sweetly: - "I love you both."

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It was like waking up after a weird dream, just opening her eyes slowly as her hearing came back to her. And the first thing she saw, was lilac. Worried, big lilac eyes that were looking directly at her from above. Everything felt sluggish, like she had been hit by one of Weiss' time dilation glyphs and was moving faster than everything else; there was a small, low ringing in her ears but other than that, she wasn't sure if she was being talked to or not. Instead, she looked back into what she realized were Yang's beautiful eyes. The worried, sad eyes that were the only focus in her vision. She was beautiful, she was everything she would never deserve to have… and she had hurt her badly. Unworthy of walking the same path as her, but apparently her actions had backfired and she had to deal with the consequences now.

-"…ake? ...you ...ight?"- Slowly she was focusing on the world around her, as she felt something wet land on her cheek and roll down to the side of her face. Yang was crying… why? She wasn't deserving of Yang's tears… not after what she had done to the both of them. Why did she keep on hurting the person she never wanted to see hurting again?

\- "Blake! Come on! Answer me, please!"- she could hear the desperation now, enough that she focused fully and really looked at her. Her whole face was telling enough; Yang was desperately worried for her. Her forehead was creased, her eyebrows curved outwards and her lips parted slightly open in a plea. It was at that moment that Blake realized something had happened to her. Had she collapsed? She was laying on the floor, with Yang hovering over her; her golden hair cascading softly at the sides, and one hand behind Blake's neck. She tried to speak and at first, she couldn't quite vocalize that she was alright; but when she tried again, she managed to say it.

-"Yeah. I'm… ok."- Yang seemed to calm down instantly, breathing out in relief. – "I'm not sure, what happened?"- She tried to stand up, but Yang held her down softly.

\- "Don't stand up yet. You seemed to pause for a second and then you just… passed out. I'm sorry, it's my fault… I made you upset and pushed you to reach that point."- the blonde huntress deposited Blake's head softly over the cheap carpeted floor, took her hand off her neck and kneeled back to put distance again between them, perhaps realizing she was too close for comfort.

\- "It's not your fault, I haven't been taking care of myself these days. I was… too worried, too nervous; I still am, to be honest."- For some reason, Blake felt like she could speak more freely now. Whether it was because she was finally laying down or because of Yang being concerned for her, she didn't know. But it was time to tell the truth.

-"Worried? Why?"-

\- "I've done many things in my life, Yang; some were good and some were bad. Rushed choices, bad choices and some things I wish I had never done… I wish I hadn't done it the way I did, but… I thought that by leaving, you would be better off without me."- Yang seemed confused.

\- "Why would you even think that?"- Blake took a deep breath for what felt like the hundred time that night and said:

\- "Because I've been the cause of so much pain for you, I was afraid I would hurt you again. I was reminded during the trials… when Mercury confessed, that I didn't trust you enough to realize that you were not a monster, that you were telling the truth. You would never do that to someone else and… in that moment, when you needed me, I let you down…. And I've only done that ever since. Look, I'm still doing it! You thought I left for a big and just cause, but in reality… I did it because I was scared."- She was crying now, openly crying to the one she had sought after to the point of collapsing; she was truly pathetic.

-"Blake, I don't understand. Why didn't you tell me all of this? After the trials? In that park? Why keep it to yourself? I don't get it." – Blake looked into Yang's eyes, she was hurt but she wanted answers… it was now or never.

\- "I didn't want to hurt you, but I messed things up. As much as I read, I've never been good with words, with expressing how I feel. It's only fair to let you know something I've never told you, even if it may sound a bit selfish… you have to believe me; it was for you. "- as she talked, she was examining Yang's expressions; so far she seemed curious but guarded as well.

\- "I left because I thought it was better for you to not have me around. Wait, let me finish."- She said as she saw how Yang was ready to retort.

\- "I left because you deserved someone better than me, someone who would never doubt you or your actions, because you are the best person I know. You are too good for this world and I'm the stupid girl that runs away in fear. And I don't mean just because we were partners, but… because…"- This was it, the moment Blake had been thinking so hard about in the latest weeks. She was scared, nervous and a bit nauseous, but Yang was still listening to her. If anything, she seemed like she wanted for her to keep talking.

\- "Because… I … You…"- before she could say it, Yang stopped her mid-sentence.

-"Wait, wait a minute. Let me just… I need to get this right." - She gestured wildly as she spoke. - "You think I'm this… amazing person but you're wrong. I have my faults, I'm not perfect in any sense of the word, if anything… I've done many stupid things too. And you, you're not a bad person. You aren't perfect either but you are damn good at doing great things. I know what you've achieved and that doesn't happen overnight or out of a regular sense of duty, but you believe in being fair and just and the world could do so much better with people like you. Me? I'm just a great Huntress and sure, I save people as my job, but what you're doing, you are shaping the world to make it better. And you know what? If that is the product of you leaving me behind, then I guess… maybe it was good that you did."- Yang seemed a bit crestfallen, her eyes had gone somewhere else during her recollection, but Blake had enough of waiting and just reached with her left hand and put it over Yang's right knee.

\- "It wasn't good and it wasn't fair to you. I never thought I would get this far with the things I've done for my people, but I also never intended to hurt you, I wanted to …. I…"- she growled at herself, at her weakness to express her feelings. – "Before the trials, I planned to stay with you… as long as you would have me."- Yang's right eyebrow rose in question.

\- "Well, duh. We were partners, that was a given and…"- she felt Blake squeeze her knee and got silent.

\- "I didn't mean that way… what I'm trying to say is that…I've been… I…"- why was this so difficult?

\- "Blake I don't under…"

\- "I love you."-

Yang was caught off guard at Blake's words, if the widening of her eyes and the open-mouthed expression was any indication. It was hard to tell, though Blake could only gander at what was going on in her mind at her revelation. She could feel the anxiousness creeping back from the recesses of her mind; like a shadow, only a step behind her… following her wherever she went. Like tar or black oil… or even the substance where grim spawned from; she would never part ways from the feeling of guiltiness and anxiousness that enveloped her daily, but only mitigate it. Such moment was this, if she focused in the fact that Yang was still listening to her, worried about her, she would take that silver lining.

\- "There, I said it. I loved you then and I still do. If I had stayed with you, if you had ever felt that way towards me… I know I would've hurt you eventually. I just know it, you may say it's not true, but look where we are now. Look at what I've done to you, to us. And I don't know if you ever felt that way towards me, I don't know if you ever loved me more than just a friend or your partner but… it's too late to erase the what I did. I wanted to talk to you, to write to you… everyday, since I left you, but… I couldn't do it. I wouldn't let myself get back into your life. And when the silence grew too much between us… I couldn't do it. Do you see now? I've been so stupid. So I had to let you know, to tell you the truth."- Yang was frozen in place, too stunned to say anything; so Blake simply took her hand off the blonde's knee and rested it at her side.

-"I'm sorry I screwed everything. I'm sorry I hurt you.". - She closed her eyes and waited for Yang to say anything; if she ever would, that is. For all she knew Yang was relieved she was alright, and that was it; maybe Yang had only felt the comradery of a good friendship and… Blake would be ok with that… as long as Yang was aware of the truth; as much as she wanted it, she didn't need for Yang to reciprocate, just her knowing the truth would be enough.

A few minutes passed and Yang hadn't said anything yet. Blake was growing a bit more anxious than before, the tendrils of darkness trying to get to her… but she refused to fall into it. She kept her eyes closed and waited for Yang to say anything.

\- "Blake… I've been asking myself all this time why did you leave that way; hell, I've been asking myself what did I do wrong… and you tell me… you did it because you loved me and you were scared you would hurt me?"- There it was; one of the possibilities Blake had been dreading from the start. Yang's disbelief of how stupid and absurd the whole situation had been from that perspective, but she didn't know how Blake had struggled those 2 days after the trial, how she fought with herself to keep her aim true in her plan. How she had suffered for it, even if it was meant to free Yang of a bad partner; Blake had wanted to turn back on her actions too many times to count. It was only fair that she had to endure this possibility… of Yang screaming at her and forever parting ways for good.

-"Yes. That's the truth. I'm sorry."- She kept quiet then. Only hearing her own heartbeats beating crazily fast and feeling a big weight in her stomach. Until she heard the rustling of clothes and the creaking of leather boots accompanied with a metallic noise. She refused to open her eyes, but she knew that Yang had stood up from the floor; and apparently had taken a few steps around and towards Blake's right. She didn't know what was going on, especially when she heard more soft cloth being moved around.

\- "Does your head hurt?"- What? is what Blake wanted to ask, so instead she opened her eyes in question. She moved her head towards where she heard Yang's voice and saw her next to the bed. She made an assessment of her situation and answered no. Yang nodded with a neutral expression on her face and walked back to where Blake was laying, who couldn't be more confused.

\- "I'm sorry, but this has been bothering me for a while now. Excuse me."- Blake wanted to ask what she meant with that when she saw Yang crouch down next to her and very gently, put one hand behind Blake's neck to prop her a little bit and her other arm behind the back of her knees. She adjusted her grip behind Blake's neck a bit to where her back began and without effort, carried her upwards. Blake was overwhelmed with how close they were, even if Yang's face betrayed nothing of what she was thinking about, except for the little frown between her eyebrows. Suddenly she was thrown to the past, to a time where the war was over and they were still partners; when Yang loved to spontaneously hug her, carry her or just be closer to her… a time where Blake felt her pulse quicken and her senses overload with Yang's sole presence. A time where Blake had slowly started to appreciate Yang's constant physical contact and even wonder what it would be like for her to initiate those. A time where her partner's radiant light would cast away the darkness of her thoughts and only leave the shadow that was Blake's essence. All in all, a better time to remember.

She was so inside her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed that Yang had brought her to her bed. For a split second she managed to realize that Yang had fixed her pillows so she would be more comfortable, as she slowly and carefully eased her down over the bedding. As soon as she put her down, she broke away the contact and Blake started missing the blonde's warmth in an instant. Too worried before to notice how her body had relaxed against Yang's frame.

\- "I'm sorry if I startled you, but I couldn't let you lay on the floor any longer when there's a decent bed in this room."- As she said so, she had turned around, making her way far from where Blake laid now. It was faint, but she could smell Yang's scent on the pillows and it was torture to even think this could very well be, the last time she ever had her in front of her. She armed herself with valor and said:

\- "Thank you, and there's no need to apologize. If anything… I don't deserve your kindness."- Blake casted her gaze away from Yang again, reminded that she hadn't heard anything related to the conversation they were having in the last 3 minutes. But she heard a weird noise from Yang, like a clicking of her tongue or something. She had her back towards Blake when she said:

\- "You really need to stop saying those things. It's not true at all and it's making me a little more than upset to hear that."- Blake brought both hands over her belly and tried not to show how nervous she was. She looked at Yang again and saw her walk towards what she could see now, was a small table near the door. She saw her pick something up and brought it to her face, she realized Yang was drinking something; a small whiff of the air made her realize it was a drink with strawberries in it. She didn't need anything else to know what it was. She saw Yang bring her arm back down with the glass and heard the clinking of ice against it.

-"Ugh. Hate the ice."- She turned around and put her hands on her hips, looking downwards. Allowing Blake to fully capture her appearance in a second and memorize it in case this was goodbye. She was wearing brown and black leather boots that ended at her knees; a rich purple bandana tied below the left knee, as always. Black riding pants with orange accents on the sides and a brown leather bag of sorts at her left side that was strapped to her leg and connected upwards into her belt of the same material. A short leather brown jacket with short sleeves and orange accents as well; with her burning heart crest over where her real heart was. Over the zipper of the jacket and under the weird collar of it, she had her classic orange scarf. She was wearing her long fingerless glove with Ember Celica in bracelet form in her left hand and a black and yellow battle prosthesis on her right. Making Blake realize this was probably her hunting outfit. Her long mane was the same as always, flowing freely and wild but curled in a way that still mesmerized her; and her eyes… she had missed her eyes and the way they used to look at her. They were still casted downwards when Yang brought Blake out of her mind.

\- "Do you know what the most stupid thing about this situation is?"- Blake shook her head no. – "That we were both stupid cowards. That day at the park? I wanted to ask you, for the longest time… if you would stay with me… forever."- Blake felt her heart constrict somewhere near her throat. What? Yang must have noticed, because she followed with:

\- "Yep. I wanted for us to be more than we were. I…. I also loved you, Blake."- As elated as she would have been, she couldn't help but noticed that she had said loved and not love. She could already feel it… the way her heart was falling bit by bit to the pit of her stomach.

\- "I felt like you… maybe you loved me as well… in a more than friends and more than partners kind of way. I know now that I was right… but then you started talking and I thought I couldn't have been more wrong in my life."- Blake felt herself shrink into the pillows, she had screwed up more than she thought.

\- "And it was so sudden I felt like my world was falling out of existence. All I knew and thought about us was vanishing out of thin air. I thought I had been so stupid not to realize that maybe you wanted different things… so, I sucked it up and just… let you go. Thinking that if that's what you wanted, I couldn't even try to talk you out of it."- Yang raised her eyes off the floor and looked directly at Blake; who felt guiltier by the minute.

\- "When you left… I stayed sitting there, all alone… thinking the last few years over and over, trying to see where I had gone wrong into thinking that you could feel that way towards me and…"- At that, Yang brought her left hand to the bridge of her nose, pinching it slightly to keep her composure. Blake wanted to run towards her and comfort her, but she couldn't move a muscle and the feelings of self-hatred didn't allow her to even speak out.

\- "… I had to leave town, right then and there. I travelled for a long, long time Blake. It was the only way I could forget all about it, but it wasn't working perfectly. There were times where I thought about you, about what you were doing or if you were gonna contact me again. But you didn't and I thought that you were probably better without me. I thought as much when I learned the news, that you were Chieftess now…. And then you started talking with Weiss and not long after you started talking with Ruby and my heart just…"- Her voice had slowly progressed from calm and quiet to small and broken. When she said her last line, she brought her hand to where her emblem was and squeezed the cloth lightly. Blake felt like she had done something horrible, and in a way… she was right. She had thought that Yang would have had it easier without her in the picture, but she realized now that she had more than hurt her. She started crying silently when she heard the few sobs that were escaping Yang's lips.

\- "I won't lie to you Blake. Whether you wanted it or not… you did hurt me. You hurt me badly in ways I'm not strong enough to tell you how right now, and I wish it wasn't true… but this is reality and it happened."- Yang let her hand fall to her side and took in Blake's expression of sadness right away.

\- "I don't know how much, but it's pretty obvious at this point that you are upset about it as well. So…. I can see why you would come looking for me to tell me the truth… but this is too much for me right now… too much to process and there's still many things that I don't know about. I don't know how you got here, how did you know where I was… and so many other questions I have…. But I won't ask much of you. I still…"- Yang stopped herself, and shifted her attention back to the floor, like weighting something on her mind. – "I still care a lot for you, Blake. I won't say any more about that because I'm scared that I don't know how long do you plan to stay here, if you even want to stay at all."- Blake tried to say something but Yang stopped her again.

\- "Before you say anything, I need a moment. Look, you told me what you had to say about the real reason of why you left… I'm gonna go outside for an hour or two. If you only came to say that, then that's your cue to leave if you want to."- Blake desperately shifted forwards, her heart screaming at her to speak up. – "If you came to be forgiven… then I'll ask a few more questions after I come back… and then you can leave if you want."- Blake felt her ears drop lower along with any hope of Yang reciprocating her feelings, she wanted to say she agreed but Yang spoke again.

\- "But… If you came here for more than forgiveness… We'll talk after I'm back and… we'll go from there. I hope you understand… I don't want to say anything else if you plan to leave as soon as possible"- The sadness in her eyes were clue enough for Blake that Yang just wanted to make sure she wouldn't just leave after talking about her own feelings, so she nodded sadly and rested against the pillows once again.

-"I understand. I'll be here."- Yang nodded slightly at her and made for the door to leave. Before she closed it behind her, Blake heard her say in a small voice: - "I guess we'll see about that."-

Blake waited a few minutes and then rolled on her side to the middle of the bed. Yang cared for her… she wasn't sure how much or if she loved her still, but she would wait patiently for her. She dried her tears on the bedding and started thinking about her, what would the conversation be like… but realized it was futile, so she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o

It was difficult to put her feelings in order. She had been completely sucker punched by Blake's confession that she had trouble thinking right. Not only that, but she had been in pain for so long and for the wrong reasons that she had to wonder how did they even got to this point.

She had been walking around downtown Vale for past half an hour by now, just… thinking and walking without a direction… how very typical of her to do so. But could she be to blame for doing so? She knew the truth… she still loved Blake but..., she had stopped herself before telling her. Yang was scared to voice her feelings now; Blake had left her for a second time in her life and it had hurt. No matter if her reasons for leaving were true… she had hurt Yang and to some degree… the trust they had built after the war was over. If she told Blake about her feelings… even if things were to go good for a while… who is to say Blake would stay with her? Who is to say she wouldn't run away in a panic again? She needed to be certain that Blake wouldn't leave… and she needed time to heal… maybe they both did…

As she walked down the street near Junior's business, she saw a small place where they sold food across where she was. She stood there in the middle of the street and started thinking about what she would do next. Blake was in a bad shape when she appeared at her door… hell, she had passed out during their discussion. Thinking about it made Yang hide her mouth inside her scarf in shame. She had made Blake so upset she had collapsed… she felt really bad about that. So, against her better judgement, she crossed the street as she opened her bag at the side of her leg looking for some lien.

When the time she had set was over, Yang was back at the door she internally wished Blake was at the other side; with a paper bag in one hand and a thermo-resistant cup with a closed lid on the other. She realized the irony of the situation where she had both hands yet one short to open the door. She chuckled darkly to herself in what she knew was a way to distract herself from what she would or wouldn't find inside. Maneuvering the paper bag under her other arm, she reached to open the door.

She closed her eyes briefly and entered the room, her heart beating loudly and ready to be broken or rest at ease. Her eyes flew to the bed and there she was still, sleeping soundly if she wasn't mistaken. Yang exhaled softly the breath she didn't know was holding and stepped inside the room carefully and trying not to make any noise.

She put down the paper bag and the beverage she had brought on the table where her forgotten glass of Strawberry Sunrise was resting at; the ice had long since melted and there was only water now. She realized she would have to intercept her next drink in a few minutes, so Blake could rest without interruptions.

She got closer to the bed and resisted the urge to join her ex-partner into dreamland. She was breathing normally now, and seemed a bit less pale; but Yang still worried that there was something wrong with her. She would have to wait for her to woke up to offer her what she bought in the store.

She was almost hypnotized by the way her body moved slightly up and down with each breath she took, so Yang forced herself to stop looking and went to sit on the floor near the door, mirroring what she had done when Blake first entered back into her life. She breathed deeply and tried not to think too hard on what it meant and instead tried to piece how was Blake in her room in the first place.

She noticed she was still wearing her beloved Edgy, so she reached with her other arm to take it off after pressing a few switches and buttons where the prosthesis ended and her arm began. With a click it was off and it collapsed a bit similar to how her Ember celica did. She was going to put it in her side bag when she noticed her scroll was vibrating inside it. She put Edgy down next to Blake's food and reached her scroll inside her bag.

When she turned on the screen she saw she had a message from Weiss.

Hello Yang, how are you? Ruby told me you are in town. It is a bit early, is it not? Have you by any chance seen anyone today? I was just wondering. Anyways. Let us know how you are and when are you going to come by. Blau misses you already and Ruby is excited for you to see her room. Let us know.

That was all it read but Yang had the clear suspicion that Weiss had something to do with the fact that Blake was sleeping in her room. She hummed quietly in thought and a little devilish plan formed in her head. Well, it was time do some research before Blake woke up.

 _Why hello Weiss, whatever do you mean by have I seen someone today? D: I'm not sure I understand what you're saying :0 Could you be a bit clearer on that? :S ?_

Weiss was a sucker for the little faces; Yang would get her answers soon enough. As she brought her scroll down, she glanced back at Blake's form on the bed… she was happy she had stayed… but she still wondered at the back of her mind… for how long?

* * *

 **Sooo, here we are guys xD This is so far the longest chapter i've written for this fic and it would have been longer but... it's better this way, trust me ;) if i had named my chapters this would have been The talk part 1, so you're definitely getting part 2 sometime... either this sunday or next week, somewhere. If you have any questions, please let me know. I really apreciate all your reviews and I love answering your questions :) If you have any constructive criticism, is very well received :)**

 **I must say, some parts of this chapter hit me heavily out of past experiences, but it's always nice to have catharsis of some kind xD i've said too much already xD see you next chapter! Thanks for reading :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello guys! I'm really really sorry i couldn't get this update sooner for you, but between homework and how important this chapter is, i wanted to make it right. Hopefully i managed to do so, if i didn't... well at least i tried xD Anyways, i have a piece of art for this fic in the works, i need to fix a few things and paint the background but i think i won't be able to release it before i uploud this chapter. So what i mean is... be in the lookout in the near future? I've talked enough, i think. Also, my chapters keep getting longer and longer Dx sorry about that xD**

 **I'll leave you be now, read the end notes for some extra info and don't worry guys, we are not done here ;) Enjoy!**

* * *

Truth to be told… having her daughter in her arms was a good way for her to think things through and stop fretting about Blake and Yang. She was still worried but less than she was some minutes ago. She looked into her daughter's big icy blue eyes and saw the calm and mirth reflected on them so much, that she couldn't help giggling as she felt warmness spreading through her body. Soon enough, Blau tried copying her actions. Now with 6 months, she was a bit more intelligent and mentally awake… her cuteness had grown as well and Ruby was sure they were doomed because of it.

-"Oh no."- she heard her wife utter lowly. Weiss had decided to write to Yang asking for Blake in what Ruby hoped had been a subtle way. She tried to squash a spike of worry trying to make an appearance again and marched her way to her lover.

-"What happened? Are they ok?"- as much as she had her doubts about Blake coming back into her sister's life, she couldn't hide her worry for her. Blake was a friend, no matter how much she had distanced herself.

When she asked, she had gotten close enough to notice that Weiss was starting to sweat, if the little beads of perspiration on her brow were any indication.

-"Ruby, what are we going to do? Yang has not seen Blake at all! Ohhh, we need to go find her, she could be anywhere on the city! What if someone found her? What if they recognized her as Chieftess and…?"- she was interrupted in her growing manic speech by Blau making a sound of discomfort, no doubt getting a bit scared by the way her other mommy was acting. Ruby interceded to ease the situation.

\- "Shhh It's ok, baby girl. Mommy Weiss is just worried, it's ok."- Weiss seemed to be sorry for making her daughter uncomfortable, and changed her demeanor to talk to her.

\- "I'm sorry, my little rosebud. I didn't mean to scare you."- She caressed her daughter's cheek with her thumb and petted her hair for a few seconds, until her usually joyful baby started giggling again.

\- "Ok, if we are all calmed now, we can carry on. Can you show me what you wrote?"- Weiss held her scroll in front of Ruby's eyes but far enough that Blau wouldn't swat at it like she was trying to do at the moment. Ruby read for a bit and the worry she had been carrying for the last few minutes, went away. She relaxed the small scowl she hadn't noticed had formed on her face and started smiling knowingly.

\- "Oh Weiss, I love you so much."- The one with the white hair raised an eyebrow in question.

-"What? What is so funny?"- she seemed so unaware, Ruby felt the need to put her out of her misery.

-"They are together. Blake found Yang and they are fine enough that Yang is pulling a prank on you."- Weiss eyes widened comically as she turned her scroll around to fish for clues.

-"What?! But look at the little faces! She seems so puzzled by my subtle question!"

-"Pfft, come on Weiss! Ok, I'll let you in a bit of info here. Whenever you see Yang typing many little faces, she's being either funny, jokingly flirty or plain joking with you. See? She put three of those in 3 little sentences. Also, I really love you, but that wasn't very subtle at all."- Weiss was still processing what her wife had told her, when she realized she was right.

\- "Oh, that insufferable…!"- whatever colorful, imaginative and old-timey insult Weiss was going to launch towards her sister, died down as she took a few breaths to center herself. Her frown remained on her face though, but, as was always the case with her loving wife, Ruby thought it was cute. Weiss seemed calm enough to continue talking.

\- "So, I guess they are fine then? No need to call the police or anything of the sort?"- Ruby looked at her wife funnily, reminded of a different time when Weiss had suggested contacting the Vale Police Department to look for the same Faunus all those years ago. She couldn't help but snort.

\- "Why do you always think first to call the police? We are World Class Huntresses; we could have gone looking for her."-

-"I know! I'm sorry. It's just a natural response… Besides, it's not like we could do that quickly and effectively carrying Blau around; the downtown area is not a place for our little girl."- Ruby turned her head sideways thinking about it, realizing Weiss had a point.

\- "I guess then only one of us could have gone, but oh well… there's no need, actually. I'm pretty sure Yang is messing with you, which means they're probably ok. But, if you could ask how's Blake, then I'll stop worrying."- Weiss nodded and started typing.

Looking down at her daughter's amused eyes, Ruby wondered how was her sister doing.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Well Ha. Ha. Very funny Xiao Long. Do not play dumb and just tell me if you are both alright. And no, don't tell me how you are "all left" or I will give you literal frosted tips. We were worried.

 _Hehe, I guess the cat's out of the bag? ;D eh? eh? Ok, serious talk now, we are… fine, I guess. Blake is resting up for a bit. She wasn't looking good when she found me. Which, by the way… would you care to tell me how is it that she's here?_

I think that is a question that should be better directed at the person who made the trip, is it not? I will not prod to ask more than I must, but I only contacted you because we were worried for Blake. I will say this, though… she was stressing out more than any other time I have ever heard about. And, as you must have guessed at this point… yes, I did help her with some things. I'm sure you have many questions if you are asking me to clear up some things, but perhaps you should have the full picture before asking for details?

 _I get what you mean, Weiss; it's just… I'm a bit overwhelmed with all of this. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that Blake came all this way just to talk to me… but I can't help feeling scared that this is just an apology attempt and that's it. Also, did you say "we"? Did Ruby know about this? Wait, is that why she called me earlier? How long have you guys known?_

Calm down Yang. I have known that Blake wanted to look for you for a few weeks now. Ruby only learnt of it shortly after I made sure she was doing this with good intentions and you wouldn't get hurt. I can read between the lines and see that you guys are not done discussing this, so I will not divulge anything else for the sake of you both. Rest assure that if something bad where to happen, Ruby and I got your back… But that is preposterous, so try to relax for a moment.

 _Ok, ok… I'll try. But when we are done talking, I want to have a long talk with you after this, Miss "Blake has not said a thing about you, Yang". A bit of a heads up would have been nice._

I am sorry, it was not my place to let you know. You must be aware by now, that you are not the only one who has been in pain, even if you may be more free of guilt in that regard; if the resting Faunus in your premises is any indication, Blake has been very much restless about this matter.

It was at that point that Yang had stopped typing back. Weiss was right, and of course… she had seen the physical lengths Blake had driven herself in her quest to get to where she was now. It was a bit scary to think about, if Yang was honest; but at the same time, she really couldn't stop herself for thinking that Blake would leave soon. Even if she stayed for a day, for a week…. Even for a month… Blake could leave at any time. Get an inkling of doubt and just leave again. Maybe not running, maybe saying goodbye… maybe even keeping contact everyday of her life… but it wouldn't be enough.

Yang suppressed the urge to drive her fist into the floor. She was bad at being overwhelmed by things. It made her lose her temper when she couldn't process things in a calm an orderly fashion. She needed to keep her thoughts in line so her feelings could follow the same route. There was no point in imagining the better outcome if it was only one of the many possibilities in this road called life.

She took a steadying breath and tried to center her vision of what she could see of Blake from the floor of her room. She wondered how Blake had made it to Vale, and what drove her to go find her. As she was doing so, she heard the steps of someone coming down the hall. She stood up silently and went for the door handle, ready to intercept her second Strawberry Sunrise of the day. It was bad already that she had forced herself to drink the first one to get a bit of liquid courage, even if it had had ice on it. However, if she found another ice cube, she would have to set Junior's goon in place… that or go find Mr. Xiong and teach him once again …. Deal or no deal… why is it that the bear bows down to the dragon.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0

The air was dry; like the sand, like the earth after a long drought. It was difficult to breathe, difficult to understand what was happening. There was something screaming, all around her; saying things she would never understand. So many voices, all at the same time, making it difficult to even think what was going on.

She could feel the pressure, there was something hitting her abdomen, over and over… cutting, scalding, like acid. She didn't want to, but she had her eyes open. Red and Black. Swirling, mixing… bleeding over her. She saw two figures, distorted by static of some kind. One she feared, still unaware of what was going on; her mind tricking her with things she knew but didn't understand yet. She knew this figure was responsible for the pain she was feeling, for this fear... this sense of being trapped forever in what could only be described as hell.

But the other figure… it was bright, burning gold and blinding. She knew that it was good, it was safe. She heard the screaming again, intelligible, loud noises that made her ears bleed and her heart stop. The two figures entangled themselves and there was only red now. Red stretching and contorting all around her. No way to escape, no way to fight. She couldn't move at all, the pressure and scalding acid travelling upwards, getting close to her heart. There was a burst of gold again, falling like liquid, falling down towards what she could only imagine was the ground. It turned black as it fell, hitting the ground like a corpse. The oily liquid started spreading, going towards her; it reached her extended hand… the hand she hadn't notice was there in front of her. As it touched her skin, it burnt worse than anything she had felt so far. She saw with her own eyes how her skin peeled back, scorched by this substance, she tried screaming, but she couldn't…. she couldn't move. Her body burned as she heard all the distorted voices scream in unison what she finally understood now: your fault.

…your fault!

…your fauLT!

YOUR FAULT!

YOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULTYOURFAULT!

-ake!

blAKE!

BLAKE!

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Blake opened her eyes as she sat up. She came face to face with Yang for the second time in the last 24 hours and tried to calm down. She was sweating, cold and uncomfortable. She was still shaking but a quick assessment told her it was just fear. She realized Yang was holding her shoulder with her left hand and Blake couldn't help to flinch. Yang noticed and let go of her, still remaining where she was.

\- "That night?"- Yang's soft voice made its way towards her and she realized she should probably say something. As she tried, she felt her throat sorer than she remembered from earlier. She nodded slowly instead, averting her eyes downwards.

-" It's easy to forget that it wasn't only me who got hurt that night… for the others, maybe. But, I remember… when we camped in Mistral and you told me… you saw it happen, it's only natural that you remember it better than me."- Blake remembered those times too. When they had reunited and after. They had been living together, sleeping close enough that the other always knew when a nightmare was happening, they always knew what it was that drove them to shake in fear at night.

\- "This one is different though, right?"- Blake raised her head and looked directly into Yang's orbs. She had kept her distance close enough that Blake could describe every shade of her lilac eyes if she so desired; but far away enough that Blake wouldn't flinch involuntarily. Yang continued talking – "I didn't mean to hear it, but you were trashing manically for a few seconds there, before I woke you. You were groaning the same words again and again. I've… never seen you do that."- But to Blake it was clear as day. This wasn't the first time she had a problem like this. She would have to explain it, damn her sore throat.

\- "Yes, it happens when I… lack sleep or have been messing with my sleeping habits. I have very vivid nightmares, I can't move at all and if I try to speak, I can't unless I try really really hard. It's… a very unpleasant experience. I hope I didn't scare you?"- As she said so, she brought a hand to her brow and wiped off some of the sweat there. She realized she would probably be needing a bath in the near future, what with all the sweating and travelling she had done. That and her back was hurting; realizing she hadn't strapped down Gambol Shroud off her back, she started taking it off and threw it softly on the carpet.

Yang studied her for a few seconds and then stood up from her spot.

\- "It scared me for a moment. When I noticed it was a nightmare, I felt the need to wake you. I'm sorry… I probably shouldn't have. That could be dangerous."- Blake raised her eyes and realized Yang had her prosthetic off and she could see the metal that covered her stump. The skin under the edges seemed healthy, so she could be assured at least that her ex-partner was taking care of herself in that regard.

\- "No, it's ok. If I was talking outside of my dream, I was waking up already. No need to apologize. It has been a while since I had one of those."- She used her arms to push her back closer to the bed's wooden headboard and raised her head again, waiting for Yang to say anything. The blonde seemed to notice this and took a few steps towards the door as she said:

\- "Eh… I brought you something, give me a second and I'll heat that cup for you."- It was then that Blake noticed a few items on the small table near the door that weren't there before when she went to sleep, including another glass with a little umbrella on it. She felt both grateful and undeserving of Yang's caring nature, but she wouldn't mention that last part to her again.

\- "Thank you, that's very thoughtful of you. I can drink that as it is though, there's no need for you to bother with the temperature."- She watched as Yang put a medium sized paper bag under her right arm and took the sealed cup with her left hand, she approached Blake quickly as she asked:

\- "Are you sure you don't want me to? I would only need to dip a finger on it. A metallic one; it conveys the heat quicker than my real one."- Blake shook her head as she received the cup from Yang and the paper bag after.

-"I'm sure. No worries."- She took a sip of the cold beverage and was pleasantly surprised with a brand of Mistralian Tea. – "Oh, that's very good. Thank you."- Yang just nodded at her with a small grin and turned towards the door again, taking a few steps forwards and then just plopping softly over the carpeted floor… turning herself slightly to look at Blake, who was opening the paper bag. And when she did, she was rewarded with one of the best smells on the world.

\- "Wait, is this…?"

\- "Yep, they had them in a nearby store."- Blake couldn't help the way her hands shook as she finally unwrapped what was a perfectly prepared tuna sandwich. – "Honestly, I was gonna buy you a better meal than a sandwich, but since you like tuna… well… you know." Yang sheepishly looked at Blake, only to see her as she took her first bite with gusto. Clearly satisfied with Yang's choice. Said blonde took the chance to just watch her as she finished her sandwich and drank the rest of her tea, too immersed in what she was doing to notice the watchful gaze of Yang on her.

After she was done, she put the empty container inside the paper bag and set it aside, aware now that she was rested and ready to answer any question Yang may have. Well… as rested someone suffering with sleep paralysis could get.

\- "Thank you, I really needed that. I'm ready to keep talking, if you are."- Yang nodded slowly and took a few seconds to center herself. Blake could feel bits and pieces of anxiety trying to get back to her, but she stopped herself from falling on that path again.

-"Ok then. Since you stayed, there's two things I need to know. First, how did you manage to get here?"- Blake nodded at the simple question and answered in an even voice, slightly soothed by the delicious tea.

\- "I asked Weiss for help, she lend me one of her ships and her fastest pilot. I went to Patch and after your dad told me you had gone to Vale to visit Ruby, I jumped back in the ship and went there. Ruby called you and that's how I found you were here."- Yang seemed doubtful about something she had said.

\- "How did you know I was in Patch?"- Blake sighed softly, this was still calm waters and no hard questions.

\- "Weiss told me Ruby was visiting there and that you were as well."- Yang raised an eyebrow and Blake corrected herself. – "I… asked about you, and then she told me. I asked her no to tell you though, at that point I hadn't realized yet that I had to go looking for you."- Blake was starting to get nervous under Yang's scrutiny, but tried to stay as calm as possible. Luckily, Yang asked another line of questioning.

\- "what happened with Menagerie? Are you still the Chieftess?"- now this could get a bit complicated but still explainable.

\- "My father is in charge now, they are in good hands."- If she could get by without giving too many details, that would be alright. She didn't want Yang to base any decision on whether or not she had commitments to Menagerie.

\- "Wait, how does that work? I mean… I don't know much about how your... politics work? But I doubt you just, left? Did you?"- Yang looked a bit sad as she asked that, so Blake intervened quickly.

\- "No, we held a ceremony. I was actually applauded by my people and left my father in charge. I promise. Things are going great over there."- It was partly true, and it wasn't like she was lying to Yang.

\- "Ok then, now…"-Yang took a deep breath that made Blake nervous all over again. – "… tell me. You have told me all of this. What do you want me to do with that information?"-

\- "…Huh?"- Blake was confused now. – "What do you mean?"

\- "You told me the real reason of why you left. You told me that you loved me and that you still do. You told me that you are… free of duties to your Island. Then, I ask. What do you want me to do with that?"- Blake knew deep down that it sounded a bit cold and too clinical of a statement for Yang to say. But she kind of grasped where she was coming from with this. She looked downwards and said:

\- "I didn't come here to force you into anything. It's true… I still love you, but I said it because I thought you needed to know all of this. You said you loved me before. I wish I had known that for sure, but thinking about what could have been is long gone from us. I don't expect you to love me still, not after all the damage I've done. I'm also, not asking for forgiveness… you can hold that over me for as long as you want, so long that you knew the whole story. I won't lie that I wish to start again with you. Even just as friends, that would be alright… I …. Don't expect you to agree with me, but… I'd like to know what you think of that."- As she had kept on talking, her voice had gone lower and lower in volume, until she was very close to a whisper. Lower enough that Yang could still hear her. Blake tried to keep her breaths even as she waited for Yang's response.

\- "Ok. Then… what would you do if I asked you to leave this room at this very instant and never come back?"- There it was… the worst case scenario Blake had thought about again and again on her way to Vale. She raised her eyes for a bit and caught a glimpse of Yang's eyes. Too neutral and calm to let her know what she was thinking about. She instantly felt her ears drooping; she tried to push them upwards but Yang's words had been too heavy for her to pretend they hadn't affected her. With a small voice, she said:

\- "If you ask me to leave, I will. Against my own wishes, I'd do as you want."- A few seconds passed and Yang's voice reached her ears again.

\- "How would you feel?"- Blake had thought this would be the easy part, after explaining in the first place what had really drove her to leave all those years ago; how wrong she had been. She felt like her heart was breaking with every word Yang said; but she would accept her fate either way.

\- "Crushed, but I would do it for you. If that's what you want."- A small part of her had tiny hopes that Yang wouldn't just throw her out… not after the small showings of caring today, but her fear was too big to let her think clearly.

-"Ok. Now… If I said I wanted you to stay close by… for a week. Would you do it?"- A bit of worry washed away from Blake's mind, but she still replied quickly.

-"Yes. I would."

\- "If I asked you to stay… for a month… even for a year… Would you do it?"

\- "Yes."

\- "If I asked you to stay with me, only as my Huntress partner, as long as I live… would you do it then?"- Blake raised her head then, and looked directly into Yang's eyes. Reading the hidden question in them. Would she be capable of that? Of staying forever by her side but never able to show her love? To have her love reciprocated? To stay surrounded by the warmth and light that was Yang and never able to caress her? To embrace her, kiss her and make love to her? To stay even far below of friendship, destined to only watch her back in battle?

\- "If you want me to, I will. I would do anything you asked of me, if it meant being close to you."- Yang opened her mouth slowly, clearly surprised by what Blake had uttered last. Blake could feel her cheeks starting to burn. Maybe she had been too forward with that one.

\- "I'm sorry… I'm being too honest here. But as long as you know I mean it. I don't mind embarrassing myself. To put it simply… if you asked, there's nothing I wouldn't do for you."- She waited patiently as Yang had flinched slightly, apparently affected by Blake's words. The Faunus was trying desperately not to ask her what she wanted her to do or if she was ok, as Yang had suddenly brought up her only hand to cover her eyes. Blake grew anxious and finally asked:

-"Yang? Are you alright?"- she studied her actions and noticed that her shoulders were shaking slightly. She swiftly got up and made her way on wobbly legs towards Yang. She plopped herself in front of the blonde woman and asked with a concerned voice.

-"You are shaking. Did I say something wrong? Please, tell me. I'm sorry. I…"- But she was interrupted once more and unable to finish her sentence.

\- "I'm fine. One more question…"- her voice was thinner somehow, more high pitched but lower in volume. Blake was still worried but agreed to wait for what she had to say.

-"If I asked you to stay with me… in whatever form that may be… Would you do it? Would you give your word, would you promise on MY life that you would stay? Would you really?"- She had tried to keep her voice even and had failed midway, but Blake had more pressing matters than to notice, as she readied her own voice to reply.

-"Yes. I would. I would rather give my life than hurt you again. I would stay as long as you want me to. But if you were to grow bored somehow, if you wanted me away… I would respect your wishes and leave you be. Against my own wishes, I would do it if it meant you would have a better life. Only If you wanted me to."- She finished and waited for Yang to say anything else. She had stopped shaking and was now letting her hand fall. She had been crying for the last few seconds and her eyes were getting puffy around the edges.

\- "Blake?"

\- "Yes?"

\- "I still love you…."- Blake felt her heart quicken it's pace… - "…but…", and skip a beat as Yang's voice broke. – "… I'm too scared to trust you. I… don't think I could go through this again. I would be too destroyed to piece together again. Even if you promised… I don't think that would be enough for me to trust you again."- If there was any way to describe how Blake felt, she could only compare it with her latest nightmare. So she started crying as well, just sitting there in front of the woman she loved…. The woman she had hurt… the woman whose trust she no longer had. But even as she cried, she tried to force herself to speak calmly.

\- "Does that mean… that you want me to leave?"- As soon as she said that, she felt Yang's hand closing around her wrist, so quick and so desperate that she felt her joints cracking under the pressure of the quick movement.

-"NO! PLEASE!"- she raised her eyes, confused and looked at Yang. She saw desperation and fear, clawing out and trying to take control of her. - Blake flinched now, the emotions too raw and too real to process. Yang seemed to notice that she had grabbed her wrist too hard and let her go immediately.

-"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to…"- Blake shook her head no to tell her it hadn't hurt, only sounded like it did, but Yang was clearly scared she had actually hurt her. – "I'm sorry, I…. I'm a mess, I shouldn't have…."

-"Yang, I'm ok. My wrist is fine; you didn't hurt me…" - Except for the pain she felt in her heart. That was it, wasn't it? She had tried but it hadn't been enough. She had truly screwed everything up.

\- "Are… are you sure?"- Yang was fretting now, and Blake seemed to realize she needed to be clear about that. – "Yes, I'm really sure. But I'm confused… what do you want me to do?"-there it was… the only question that could make a bit of sense in the midst of a very long night… why did everything had to be so complicated?

-"I'm… not sure myself. I… love you, I know that… and I don't want you to go away again… but It's not fair of me to make you stay if I'm not sure I can even fully reciprocate what you say you're feeling."- Blake thought hard on what Yang had said and saw a small ray of hope in there. Well…she could still try one more thing.

\- "I understand that you are scared. I'm scared myself to be honest… But there's something we can do… put me to the test… give me a window of time to prove to you that I won't leave you, that my feelings for you are real, to gain your trust again… and then… you can take your decision… whatever it may be. I will accept it. And… in the meantime, we can start with being partners again… if you want, of course."- She knew that what she was saying could be hard to actually do. Staying a long time by her side without knowing if she had regained Yang's trust; unable to tell her what she meant to her, scared she would only hurt her. Blake knew that she wasn't the kind of person who would initiate a hug or show much affection, but before everything had gone to hell years ago, she had been trying to be more open with her feelings.

Yang took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes again; Blake looked right back and realized how close she was, she blushed slightly and fought the urge to look at her lips. She doubted Yang would kiss her, but having her so close made her start noticing everything she had missed about her. But when she looked at the corners of the blonde's eyes, she saw the unshed tears in them and the guilt tried to get in her way again.

\- "I… I think I want that."- Yang's soft voice made Blake's heart start beating fast again; her brain catching up with what Yang said. Then she saw Yang's hand raising slowly towards her and Blake felt at a loss on what do to. She felt the blonde's fingertips wiping something on her cheeks and was reminded that she had been crying as well.

\- "I want you to be my partner again, I want to… I want you to be near me. I…"- The Faunus noticed that Yang's eyes had dropped somewhere near her mouth and started feeling a bit woozy with how quick her heart was beating. It was the first time Yang was close enough to kiss and Blake wanted to scream at the uncertainty of it all. Her back was rigid in an effort not to close the distance, aware that it would be against what they had just discussed. Yang kept on talking.

\- "I want to kiss you, but…"- Blake felt her ears twitching with nervousness, hanging on Yang's words. – "… My mind tells me that I should wait… some more. For now, I'll do this."- That was the only warning Blake got, when Yang used her only hand to guide her lips to kiss Blake's cheek… the softness and feathery feeling of Yang's lips on her skin, burned with a warmth and safety she had been craving all along.

When Yang pulled back after a few seconds and dropped her hand on her lap, she seemed to be a bit worried of what Blake would say; but Blake's only response was to touch with her own fingers where Yang had kissed her, making her whole body shudder in tiny waves… her cheeks burning with heat at the idea of what It could have been. She realized she should say something and felt embarrassed for a second, Yang was waiting on her to respond and she was acting like a young girl, being kissed for the first time.

\- "Uh… does this mean… what, exactly?"- she could be overthinking things, but she needed to know what was it that Yang wanted her to do. The blonde just nodded and with a small grin, she said:

\- "I want to try being friends again, being partners. I want us to be comfortable with each other. To be honest, it was very hard not to kiss you for real… and I kinda got the feeling that you wanted it as well, but…" at this, Yang's face got a little red and she brought her hand to the back of her neck, clearly embarrassed to explain her actions. – "… I want to be sure, the next time… sure that I'm not being paranoid and that I trust you fully on what we could be together… If I had kissed you, it would've been harder for both of us… I think."- she ended with a sheepish smile and Blake could only nod with embarrassment as well. It stung a bit that Yang had brought her lack of trust again, but she understood why she had to say it.

-"I see. You are right, but I said I would respect your wishes and I'll do it. I will stay with you, as long as you want me to. I promise with all my heart that I won't leave, unless you send me away."- She had looked directly into Yang's lilac eyes, conveying with all she could muster that she was saying the truth, that she would do anything to fix their relationship and be ready for more if it ever happened. She even brought her hand to Yang's own; she wanted to intertwine their fingers but thought that would be too intimate to do yet, and just placed it over hers.

Yang nodded slowly and turned her hand over, so she held Blake's on her own. With a small smile, she said: - "Well then… that was a thing."- Blake rolled her eyes with a little smirk on her own lips at the understatement Yang had made about the whole ordeal.

\- "I think we should get up now, I know a couple of people that are dying to know if we are ok, I should text them…"- Blake nodded as Yang got up first and helped her to stand up with the hand she was holding. Soon she let go and Blake felt relieved that she knew now that It wouldn't be the last time.

\- "Shouldn't we call them instead? So they'll know right away?"- Yang looked puzzled by her question, Blake was going to ask what was wrong until a look of understanding got to her.

\- "Blake, what time do you think it is?"- as she asked, Blake realized she had no idea. I was already dark when she got Yang's door, and didn't have a clue on how much sleep had she actually gotten.

\- "Uh... I'm guessing… somewhere around midnight?"- Yang shook her head as she snickered, she opened the bag she had strapped to her leg and retrieved her scroll from it. She pressed a button and turned it around for Blake to see the time. She immediately widened her eyes as her ears stood at full attention

-"3:18? Yang! Why didn't you tell me? And you've been sitting here all this time while I was occupying your bed?"- Yang just laughed softly as she put her scroll back into her bag.

\- "It's ok Blake, you are not the only one with messy sleeping schedules. Besides, you really needed to rest. Don't think we are done talking about you stressing over things… it seems another conversation about that is in order."- Blake looked downwards, aware that Yang was right. She had left out some information in purpose… like the fact that she was technically supposed to go back to Menagerie. It's not like she didn't trust her father and her assistant to handle things, but she wanted to make sure they got the right people for the job of exploring the newlands. Yang was her priority now, though. So she would just try her best every day to build their trust again, from scratch. Even if she had to put anything else on hold or forget about it entirely. Having Yang again with her was worthy of any other sacrifice.

-"I understand. You should take the bed now, though. You need to rest too."- Blake would be lying if she said she didn't want to sleep some more as well, taking into consideration the exhausting day she'd had. She started turning towards the place on the floor Yang had been sitting before, but Yang stopped her, putting her hand over her shoulder.

\- "Hey, no need for you to be uncomfortable! We can share. I know the bed is not that big, but, it wouldn't be the first time we share a bed, right?"- Blake was reminded of a time before the trial, they had been working as a team in a small Village at the far south of Mountain Glenn. They only got two single beds for the night. Weiss had suggested just pushing them together and making do. Yang had agreed as long as she didn't have to see or hear her sister doing anything with Weiss. It had been fun seeing Weiss' pale face turning as red as her girlfriend's cape, Ruby had just laughed and promised not to scar Yang for life. Weiss had been at one edge, followed by Ruby, then Yang and Blake at the other edge. She remembered how safe and warm she felt that night, confirming her feelings for her partner one more time. Feelings she wasn't sure were requited; she had been forced to suppress a purr of contentment so Yang wouldn't know how she made her feel just by being next to her.

Back in the room, were Yang was waiting for her to agree to her idea, Blake jolted back into herself and said a hasty ok to her. Yang told her she would be in the bathroom to change clothes and that she was sorry she didn't have anything to lend her to sleep, Blake told her not to worry and tried not to think on how much she really needed a shower.

As the seconds passed after Yang closed the door, Blake was reminded that she hadn't told her parents she had made it safe to Vale. They would probably be very worried… She patted down her back pocket and reached for her scroll. Unlocking her screen, she saw the caring faces of her parents and felt a warmth in her chest… she had made it safe, and she hadn't lost Yang forever.

She opened up a chat with her mother and wrote:

 **I found her in Vale, I'm ok. I'll tell you more later, it's too late right now. Don't worry, I'm staying with Yang. Thank you and thank dad for me as well. I love you guys, Good night.**

She hit send as she heard Yang opening the door slightly, she seemed to be peering curiously at her through the cracked door.

\- "Is everything ok?"- Asked Blake, realizing a few seconds later that Yang was probably nervous she could have gone out again, her ears drooped a bit.

\- "Yeah, actually I wasn't sure if you were sleeping yet or not. Didn't wanna wake you."- surprised for her explanation, Blake uttered a small hmm and tried to suppress any other emotion, in case Yang noticed. The blond stepped off the bathroom with her usual orange tank top and black shorts, ready for bed. She got into bed at the side that was closer to her and sighed contently. Blake started to take off her boots and was suddenly hit with a thought… She had made it. Yang was giving her back an ounce of her trust to start again, properly this time… she would not blow this opportunity for it was the only one she had. And if everything went well… they could be more that they had ever been before. A life where she could have this… doing something so domestic like taking off her boots to lay down with her partner to sleep. She would try her best to get there. But… she was still scared of screwing up again, not by leaving… she had learned her lesson. But… what if Yang realized she didn't want that? What then? What if Yang pushed her away this time? What if she found out she was somewhat still committed to the fate of Menagerie? A shiver went down her spine at the thought of Yang lashing out at her in tears… she was so absorbed in that picture that she didn't hear Yang the first time she asked:

\- "Blake? Is everything ok?"- Yang's soft question laced slightly with doubt pulled Blake back into reality; she swiftly continued taking off her boots as she answered with her back to the blonde.

-"Yes, don't worry. I was just thinking too much. I'm ok now"- she placed her boots next to the bed and started taking off the cloth around her arms. She could sense that Yang was still looking at her in worry, so she hurried up and took off her light gray shirt and kept her black crop top on. She swiftly stood up then and got into bed, feeling Yang's warmth so close she had to fight off a sigh of relief. Yang looked at her for a few more seconds and then turned her head back to look at the ceiling. She closed her eyes and whispered a Goodnight to Blake, who was still looking at her; unable to peel her eyes off of her, amazed at the fact that she was laying down next to her for real. She turned on her side and whispered Goodnight as well; completely at ease that the word uttered didn't have to be Goodbye instead.

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 **Well... there you go? Before i get any pitchforks, torches and a mob ready (if there's need for any) i want to remind you that I'm not done with this story yet, we still have some ways to go ;) As a reader myself i can understand the frustration of waiting for something you want to happen, but i also feel the need to make this as realisticaly possible as i can knowing both their characters. And throw at you guys many different paths we could go on this story, this is a Bumbleby story though, so... think on that ;)**

 **Also, about this chapter... Ok, i don't know how many of you have experienced sleep paralysis but i thought Blake would be prone to those, with her bad sleeping habits, it tends to happen. If you don't know what that is, you can look it up on wikipedia easily or just ask me in a review. The short explanation is that is being concious and awake while you're still dreaming, but is not like lucid dreaming. You can't move or talk and it feels as if there's something on you, in the middle ages it was thought to be some kind of demon or evil force (because of the feeling of having something over your chest) but is really a few chemicals in your body making you unable to move. It can be accompanied by auditory and visual hallucinations, making you panic even more. A way to wake yourself is trying your hardest to speak. I know this because i've been suffering this phenomenon for years. You can look up videos on youtube about how awful it gets when you hear unhuman screams and awful noises in your head.**

 **Knowing that an overly stressed Blake can't sleep, it makes sense for her to have this.**

 **Anyways, any questions you may have, you can write to me on a review :) also, tell me how much you hate or love me right now Dx any constructive criticism is welcome :) I hope you enjoyed it! And hopefully it won't take this long to update again Dx than you guys for reading :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**I'm sooo soo sorry guys. I know it's been more than two weeks since i last updated but things had been a bit frantic for me. Between homework and my personal life, it was difficult to find the right time to write, but hopefully things will be better soon :) It's 11:57pm here and i'm trying to update this chapter ASAP. See you at the end notes! Enjoy!**

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Sometimes it's easy to forget that not all the dreams are nightmares; when you are plagued by them so often that the time you spend asleep is either in complete darkness or encased in pain for all the bad things that have happened to you, is hard to remember that they can happen as well. For Blake it is a relief when she wakes up without any disturbing image or memory lingering in her head, with only the feel that if her brain decided to show her anything that night, she couldn't remember it. It's not like she didn't have other kinds of dreams, it's just that the nightmares won over anything else she could remember in the long run.

Such day, seems to be today, when she wakes up from the sound of small beeps and a low vibrating hum that she can only recognize as her scroll. She tries to reach for it, if only to turn it off or hit the snooze button; so deep in her uneventful rest that she fails to remember that she's not in her bed and that hers is not the only devise in the premises. As she starts pawing her way towards where she hears the sound, she hits something warm that she doesn't recognize and, still in her confusion, she grabs it. Interestingly enough, it feels like an elbow, but Blake is still groggy and is only alerted that something is not right when she hears a voice she could never forget.

\- "Good morning, Blake. Can I have my elbow back?"- Blake's eyes are open wide in less than a second and she swiftly let's go of Yang's left arm. She's looking at her with a bit of mirth in her lilac eyes, with her scroll buzzing and beeping softly in her hand. Blake is reminded of everything that happened the night before and for some reason, she can't help it to feel embarrassed. They said so many things, with an honesty and raw emotion that torn apart any feeling of doubt in Blake's heart. Yang loved her, but she would have to work hard to earn her trust again; Blake would try her very best and be there for her a long as she'd have her.

With a meek voice, she said: - "Good morning. I'm sorry…I thought it was my scroll."- Yang smiles at her and gets her gaze back to the screen of her device, reading something on it with attention.

Even with the rest she's had, Blake can feel the laziness creeping in on her. She doesn't need to know the time to realize that she doesn't want to get up yet, as she buries herself in the sheets of Yang's provisional bed. She's never been a morning person but she was always responsible enough to get up and get ready for her day; whichever activities she needed to attend to, she would do so… with a natural frown in her face and perhaps a bit of an attitude. But Yang… she was the total opposite. She would wake up early and with bounds of energy, back on their Beacon days; and after all the bad things that happened with the Fall, she would still always be the one to wake with her namesake and remind the team to keep on moving, when they reunited in Mistral.

She snickered softly as she remembered who was the one of their team that had trouble waking at all when they were resting back in the war days. Deprived of her coffee, Weiss would have more than one discussion with Yang about waking her at an ungodly hour, followed by Ruby trying to calm her down… which always worked. Weiss would always apologize, but Blake kind of knew where she was coming from with her morning issues. Having seen Weiss drinking her coffee every day, at the same meticulous time back in their dorm room, she could only imagine how long back had that habit started.

Opening her eyes again, laying on her side, she focused her gaze on Yang's semi resting form, and yet… not as close as she would like her to be. Yang's warmth was so inviting, she almost felt the need to fall asleep again… crawl closer and just lay her body fully next to her. Encased by her whole being. Blake stopped that train of thought quickly and reminded herself that they had decided to start slowly, no need for her mind to run along and make her believe in things she didn't know would ever happen.

So she settled on looking at the blonde, the way she was laying on her back, looking at the scroll she held on her only hand, typing slowly with her thumb… her tongue sticking out slowly as she kept on pressing keys. Blake felt something stir in her heart, the sight before her making her feel things she hadn't felt in so long… a few years back, just the chance to see her partner doing something next to her, being next her… just… being. It made her feel like she could leave the past behind and truly start over, it squashed her doubts and quieted the anxiety that she carried always with her. In that moment, she felt blessed.

She had been so attuned to her emotions playing in front of her eyes, that she hadn't noticed Yang's frustration growing as she kept writing with her thumb.

\- "Ugh. I need my other hand.". And so, had been unprepared to see her standing up and off the bed. Her eyes had widened and frozen on something she hadn't been ready to see. Something she hadn't thought was a possibility, and yet… as Yang sat on the bed and stood up, she got a clear view of her back.

There was a sea of scars on it, in the little bits of skin she could see under her orange tank top; with most of her back actually covered, she could only imagine what the rest of her back looked like. Claw marks, burn marks… patches of skin where she could see how her back had hit something that had teared her skin in one direction. It wasn't weird for their line of work to collect a few scars here on there… but this… this was something else. This was the brand of a huntress that works alone, that doesn't have someone to watch her back. In a way, Blake knows it's her fault. She wasn't there to protect her. She wasn't there to watch out for her. Blake's heart constricted painfully when she realized… How close had Yang been to dying for her Aura to not protect her and leave her marked and scarred for life? How desperate had she been to throw herself in the fight to reach that point? Blake didn't know; she only knew that she was at least partly at fault for it, if not fully.

-"Blake? What's wrong?"- Yang's worried voice brought her back to reality. She had equipped herself with her prosthesis and was holding her scroll on both hands, clearly in the midst of writing something when she had brought back her attention to Blake. The Faunus was still processing what she had seen, unaware that there were tears forming in her eyes. The blonde quickly got back to the bed and kneeled on the mattress, a worried hand posing itself on Blake's shoulder.

\- "Hey, I don't know why you're crying but, I'm here now. You can tell me if you want, or not… I'm here if you need to talk". - What Yang said only made Blake feel more at fault. Even when Blake hadn't been there for her, Yang was still trying to offer her help. Blake's heart lessened the quick pace it had taken at what she saw, and tried to reign in her feelings. She sat up on the bed and Yang's hand retracted when Blake shook her head slightly.

\- "Yang… I saw..."- she took a deep breath and armed herself with courage to ask what she needed to know. - "Your back, I saw it. What happened?"- she feels dumb for asking what she knows could very well be a sore object, but Blake needs to know, she needs to know how Yang feels about it.

Yang looks at her puzzled for a moment and then comprehension dawns in her face; she gives her a sheepish smile as she rests her weight sitting on her calves, her left hand reaching the back of her neck… this time, travelling a bit south, where Blake now knows that's where the scars start.

\- "I switch up my fighting style to keep things interesting, but more often than not, is not that wise to meddle with where your aura goes to protect you. A few of them are actually close calls but I absorbed that energy and dealt with the grim quicker than expected. I know it may be a bit of a gruesome sight but…"- as she kept on going, Blake could see through the cracks of Yang's smile. The blonde knew that she had been reckless, and she felt self-conscious for them now that Blake had seen them. Whether it was because of how they looked or the meaning underneath them, Blake wasn't sure, but she wasn't going to let her think she found it unbearable to look at… even if it did remind her that she had left her alone.

\- "You are as beautiful as always Yang, scars or not… that will never change."- As she said so, Blake saw the way Yang's cheeks took a reddish tint on them, clearly affected by Blake's words. – "But those are the last you'll ever have, I'll make sure of it. I promise."- As she had said so, Blake had taken hold of her right hand, gripping the warming metal as it was made of flesh; reassuring the blonde of her promise. She was being very serious about it; Blake wouldn't say how guilty she felt for them, because she didn't want Yang to tell her to stop blaming herself; so she did the best next thing, and told her she would watch her back for her. As partners should.

Yang was smiling for real this time, touched by Blake's words… reading between the lines what she meant about that; so she just managed to nod a her and bring back her left hand, posing it over Blake's own.

\- "Thank you."- she said at last, and conveyed with a look how much that meant to her. Blake felt her pulse quicken, her heart beating strongly for this magnificent woman, who is warmth and light in human form. She has made a promise now, and she would do anything to keep it.

Soon, another buzz is heard and they both turn to look at where the noise is coming from. Yang's forgotten scroll resting over the sheets. They break their hold from each other and Yang goes to pick it up, quickly starting to type away as she says:

\- "So, Weiss and Ruby are waiting for us. She says she didn't take the day off just to spend it with her family if we are not there."- Blake smiled to herself, of course Weiss would be the one to push things along.

\- "We shouldn't make her wait then."- The Faunus stood up and stretched her back fully, a bit of a groan leaving her lips as she felt her muscles stretch.

\- "How are you feeling?"- Asked Yang as she continued to type away. Blake did a mental recap on her state and said: - "Better, but I feel a bit sore still, yesterday's trip was a bit too long and I might have been stressing too much. My eyelids ache a bit but other than that… I think I'll be ok."- she heard Yang laugh softly.

\- "Bit of understatement there, Blake. But I'm glad, you're feeling better. Please let me know if that changes somehow… I'm sure I'm not the only one who is worried for you". - Blake felt embarrassed as she realized she must have been quite the disaster the day before, arriving to Ruby's doorstep in the state she was… which reminded her of something.

-" Yang, do you mind if I take a shower first?"- Yang looked at her for a second and then replied: - "Not at all, but… what are you going to wear?"- Blake was reminded that she hadn't brought any change of clothes and groaned lowly. It wouldn't bother her so much if she hadn't been sweating buckets the day before.

\- "I guess I'll have to make do with the same pants and my white shirt?"- Wearing the outer layer of her outfit would have to make do… even though it may prove to be a bit uncomfortable for her, as it was a weird diagonal cut kind of shirt and without her inner black top she wasn't sure she would feel as good. Before she could think more on it, Yang intervened.

\- "Why don't you take my black t-shirt?"- the Faunus was caught off guard, trying to remember when had she seen Yang wearing said item.

-"What? What t-shirt?"

\- "I wear a t-shirt under my leather jacket. You can wear that, I don't think chaffed skin is something my aura can't protect me from, right?"- Blake wasn't too sure but it wasn't like she had many options anyway. So she agreed and went to get ready for their visit.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

\- "You know, I think that you are giving them less credit than they deserve."- Said Ruby as she poured herself a glass of water in their kitchen; across on the other side of the room was Weiss, trying to feed Blau some mashed fruit. Fortunately for them, Blau was not an over the top messy baby, but she could be quite stubborn when she didn't want to open her mouth. Ruby thought it was cute and one more trait that her daughter shared with her wife, but Weiss wasn't as amused by it as Ruby was. She was sitting in front of Blau's little chair, trying and failing a bit to convince her daughter to open her mouth to receive more fruit. What baffled Weiss the most was that Blau seemed to take a spoonful, enjoy the food and then refuse to take another one, until Weiss managed to distract her enough that she would open her mouth and take that chance to feed her again; starting the cycle from the top.

Weiss sighed as she took a small break and put the spoon down, the small baby-safe item resting over the plate Weiss was keeping away from her daughter, who seemed like she wanted nothing more than to get her small hands all over the mashed fruit.

\- "I think that is fair to think that there may be some things unsaid still. I trust that they had space to vent about their situation but it's not always easy to say the things they should be saying to each other."- they had been talking about the rest of their Team for the most part in the last 30 minutes, after Weiss had started messaging Yang and telling them to come over their house for the day. She had tried to get a feel of their situation but wouldn't ask direct questions to pry for information; it wouldn't have been nice to do so, no matter how much she was worried for them.

\- "I don't know, we are all grown-ups now, and I know Yang is very good at serious talks. Can't say for sure about Blake, but if she travelled all this way then… I'm guessing she didn't come here to not say anything at the last moment."- Weiss looked at her wife and got a smile of reassurance as she put her glass down on the counter; Weiss smiled back and turn her eyes back to her daughter, who had been making small grunts of effort to get to the plate on the kitchen table that was completely out of reach.

\- "Oh no, my little rosebud. You are still too little to get your own plate, but you have an A for effort, your reward is another spoon of fruit!"- she said as she picked up the utensil again, her daughter not amused by it if the turning of her face was any indication. Ruby laughed at the sight before her and Blau turned her face towards the sound; opening her mouth in wonder and letting Weiss feed her the spoon.

-"There you go! See, it's the same thing you just ate a moment ago!"- Blau seemed to regard what Weiss had said and made a sound of approval. – "She's such a slow eater, Yang and Blake should be arriving before she's done."- As she said that, they heard the doorbell ring.

Curiosity awakened, Blau turned her head towards where she taught the sound was coming; it would have been another opportunity to feed her, except that Weiss had been distracted by it as well.

\- "That should be them!"-said Ruby as she made her way towards the door, the thought of her old team reuniting again filling her with emotions she didn't care to examine as she got closer and closer to the door. When she opened it, the first thing she noticed was the smile on her sister's face and how her eyes seemed to shine more than the last time she had seen her. And then she took in Blake's appearance, who was standing a bit behind Yang; Ruby would have noticed that she seemed more rested and less pale than yesterday, if it wasn't for the yellow crest on the black shirt she was wearing that captured all her attention and confused her at the same time. Before she could say anything, her sister was stepping forward and lifting her up in her more careful version of the Xiao Long hug.

-"Ruby! Hey sis! How's it going?"- The small interaction was enough to distract her and reach the conclusion that things would be fine, at least for now. She quickly wrapped her arms around her sister's neck and said as jovially: - "Yang! I'm good! What's up?"- As she was deposited back on the floor she heard Yang say in a joking tone:

\- "Good, but you wouldn't believe who I found yesterday!"- As she said that, Ruby felt a bit guilty for not saying anything to her sister, so she brought her hand up to twirl her braid in a show of sheepishness. She giggled nervously and focused her attention back onto Blake, who was stepping forward as well. Looking at her face instead of her shirt, she realized that Blake seemed a bit nervous as well, and a bit coy to boot.

-"Hello Ruby. I'm sorry about yesterday, I… wasn't in my best moment and…"- Ruby noticed that her ears were drooping slowly and realized she should cut her some slack… if anything, Yang's eyes told how much this meant to her, no matter what happened between them before. So she smiled at her and did something she hadn't done in many years, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Blake, who flinched slightly and froze at her actions. Ruby was taller than she remembered, a bit shorter than her, but tall enough to notice.

Ruby held her for a few seconds as she said to her: - "It's ok Blake, don't worry about it. I'm glad you are here and I'm glad you seem better than before."- as she heard Ruby, Blake eyes seemed to fill with tears at the corners, but she held them back and just hugged Ruby; putting an end to the unsaid tension between them without knowing it.

-"Thank you, Ruby. It means a lot that you are."- As the hug ended, Ruby turned and noticed that her sister was smiling wide, the kind of smile she reserved only for special occasions… she supposed this was one of them.

\- "Well this is nice and all, but there two people that are waiting to meet you. One of them is the cutest thing you'll ever see, and the other is my daughter, who is also the cutest thing you'll ever see."- She laughed at her own joke as she turned around to guide them through their duplex. Pointing at a few things here and there as they walked closer to the kitchen, where Ruby could hear Weiss trying to bargain with their daughter in an attempt to feed her more fruit.

\- "Please Blau, your mommy is going to think that I can't feed you properly, when she does it every day! Come on, rosebud! Tonight I'll sing to you the first act of that opera you like, just take the fruit!"- Ruby snickered as she entered the kitchen with Yang and Blake in tow. Her daughter turned to look at her and Weiss seized the moment to get another spoonful in.

\- "Nice one!"- said Ruby as she approached her little family. Weiss put the utensil down and stood up to greet their friends. She focused her attention on the two people behind her wife and made her way forward, she tried to seem composed and serious but the slow forming smile on her face betrayed her efforts.

\- "Hello, Weiss… I'm sorry I.."- before she could even apologize, Weiss had crossed the distance and held Blake by her shoulders. She smiled wide and brought her in for a hug that lacked in strength, but was filled with meaning. Weiss wasn't one to be overly physical back in the day, but being married to Ruby and opening up to those she cared about made her more prone to shows of affection like this.

Blake quickly composed herself and hugged her back; Weiss small form shook slightly and Blake realized that this was the first time she was seeing her best friend in many many years. The friend who had helped through the worst of times; the only one she had been able to confide in finally when she decided to go for Yang. The friend who had pushed her to do right by the person she loved with all her heart and to be true to herself. The same friend Blake had called an "Ignorant little brat" and "judgmental little girl" less than 10 years ago. The Faunus felt overwhelmed by the feelings and couldn't help a tear from rolling down her face, landing on Weiss' alabaster locks. Without a doubt she knew, that Weiss was having the same reaction to their meeting.

\- "There's nothing to apologize for, I'm glad you are here."- said Weiss as she finally let go of her. She quickly dried her tears with her hand and stood straight again; she turned to look at the tallest member of team RWBY and saw she had been waiting to give her the biggest hug she could.

\- "Come here Ice Queen, let's see if I can thaw you a bit more."- Weiss stepped forward with a smile and was soon surrounded by the strong arms of her sister in law. Who lifted her slightly and put her back in the ground. Weiss turned to look around and she finally saw her real family complete. After all those years of uncertainty, she could finally breathe at ease and just enjoy the closeness of their friendship. Because no matter how long they had spent the years apart, at heart Team RWBY would always be the closest family in the history of Remnant.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Blake hadn't expected for her feeling to catch up with her again so soon, but they would be put to the test again, a few moments later.

It was Yang who declared that they could officially go back to being a Huntressing team, but not really until Ruby was back to business sometime soon. As she had said so, she had glanced at Blake, checking if it was ok with her to do so. Blake had nodded at her in agreement, reminding her with a smile that she had promised to be whatever she needed her to be. And of course, she loved her team as well; she couldn't wait to see how they all played on each other's skills once again as they were brought together in a strong embrace by both the sisters in each side of the room.

It was at that moment that a little sound made its way towards Blake's ears and she was reminded that they were not the only ones in the kitchen. She had glanced momentarily at her for a second before Weiss had captured her attention, but now she could really see the daughter of her team mates. The one she had seen time and time again in pictures, but truly, she was more adorable and tiny than the pictures seemed to capture her as.

\- "Alright, Blake, let me introduce you to someone."- Ruby said as she pushed Blake forwards to where her daughter was sitting. She moved in front of Blake when she reached the little chair and after moving a few belts here and there, she hoisted her up in her arms and turned her towards the Faunus.

\- "Blake, this is our baby girl, Blau."- Blake couldn't help but smile as she saw the way the little baby resembled the mother that was carrying her, and as she looked at her eyes and was met with a bold, icy colored stare, she was reminded of Weiss.

\- "She's beautiful…"- This time around, she could honestly say it. Weiss stepped around them and held one of her tiny hands in hers as Yang stood next to Blake, smiling fully at her niece.

\- "Blau, meet your auntie Blake."- It was at that moment that Blake knew how much she had missed them all, as she cried more tears and felt Yang's hand on her shoulder. She was truly overwhelmed and honored to be considered in a way, as part as their little family. But at the same time, she was frozen in the spot, unable to move forward and interact with the child she was starting to feel a connection with.

\- "Do you want to say hello?"- Yang's voice brought her out of her head and made her turn towards her; the blonde was smiling at her, with an expression of understanding at her actions. Blake shook herself out of her state and gathered her voice enough to say:

\- "Hello little Blau… I'm… I'm your aunt Blake."- as she said it, she was slowly starting to realize how true it was. She stepped forward and the little girl focused on her completely, intrigued by this new person. Blake felt a bit of sadness at the thought that this little girl didn't know her, but she knew… Blake knew all about her, every little thing she had accomplished, week by week as Weiss told her all about it. She was glad for it.

Blau seemed to regard her with curiosity and was bold enough to extend a hand towards her, Blake obliged her instincts and brought a finger towards the tiny hand, that was swiftly taken by the little one. Blake felt then a warmth in her heart that she hadn't known yet. She felt a duty towards this child that she was aware was not motivated by blood, but by the connection she had towards her parents and her real aunt standing right beside her. Blake chuckled lowly as more tears feel down her face.

\- "I'm sorry I'm late, but I'm here, little Blau."- There was more things Blake wanted to say, but those were promises that she would keep in her heart until the time was right. Promises that she would only utter to Blau and Blau alone, and when the little rosebud was old enough, she would make true on those promises.

The little girl was soon distracted when her eyes shot up towards Blake's cat ears after they moved a few times around. She let go of Blake's finger and was looking with amusement at the appendages.

\- "Blau, is not nice to stare."- said Yang jokingly after she realized the mood should change to something less heavy and emotional, having felt the raw emotions of everyone in the room.

Blake chuckled at this and started to move her ears around, making Blau giggle to herself.

\- "It's ok, it's only natural that she does."- said Blake as made her ears fall forward and then back up again; the 6 months old giggling more and more as she moved her ears around. Ruby and Weiss looked on as their daughter enjoyed herself, glad that Blake seemed to start bonding with their little rosebud.

\- "I'll teach you all about Faunus etiquette when you are older though, that way you can make more friends."- That was one of the things she was thinking about, now that it had been sort of brought up. She trusted Weiss and Ruby to taught their child kindness and to be fair towards others, but there were some other things you could only learn about Faunus from a Faunus. The children were, after all, the real future of their world.

\- "Do you want to hold her?"- the question came from Ruby, and as glad as Blake was that she trusted her with her daughter, she was not ready to hold her yet.

\- "I'm afraid I can't right now. She seems so… tiny and vulnerable. I'm afraid I'm too nervous for that yet, but maybe later, sometime…"- Ruby nodded and turned to Yang, who so far had held back on going for her niece.

\- "What about you, sis?"- The blonde smiled wide and extended her arms for her niece to see. Ruby rolled her eyes and deposited Blau softly on them. The little rosebud turned slightly and focused on Yang, her eyes shining with wonder at her aunt.

-"Blau-ie! I've missed you so much! Look at you! You're growing so fast! You are going to be taller than your mom in a year!"- Ruby and Blake laughed at Yang's antics while Weiss only pouted and added in a small voice that it wouldn't happen so soon.

It was at that moment that the Faunus stopped her laughing and had a look at her once again partner. Yang was smiling fully now, like she hadn't seen her in years. She was showing her battle arm to her niece as she assured Weiss that it was completely safe. The mirth in her eyes danced around like a spark in a bonfire; this is what Blake wanted to keep in her heart. The look of those lilac eyes full of life, wonder and happiness… not the sad, dull and lifeless ones she had left behind on that bench so many years ago.

This Yang, that held her niece in her arms, safe from the evils of the world. This Yang was the one she wanted to stay by as long as she would live; this was the one she would protect at all costs. She would make sure that nothing or no one would hurt her again, not even herself. She would do everything in her power to make her happy and safe.

A warmth spread through her chest at the thought of keeping her word, and she could only smile at what she was seeing.

\- "So, is there any reason you are wearing that crest on you that we should be aware of? Blake Belladonna?"- Weiss' voice cut through her, breaking the moment and grounding her to reality, where Ruby and Yang were chatting and Weiss had decided to approach her. When she realized what she was implying, she was glad that Weiss had the decency to whisper at her instead.

\- "Is not what think, Weiss."- she blushed slightly but carried on: - "I only brought a change of clothes and I really needed to take a shower. The place where Yang is staying has a laundry service as well, so it should be done today."- Weiss rose a thin eyebrow at her and said: - "So, I gather things went well then? Somehow?"- Blake nodded and turned slightly to the side, to signal for Weiss to retreat a bit against a wall so they could talk a bit more freely without being heard.

-"Yes, mostly. We are going to start from zero and see where that takes us."- Blake smiled but Weiss' expression didn't change much.

\- "Ok, but what does it mean? Yang said we are all going to be Huntressing sometime soon… what about Menagerie? Have you decided to leave your father in charge? What does Yang think about this?"- It seemed so easy, but once again, Blake was reminded that life had its twists and turns. It must have reflected on her face because Weiss' eyes went wide and she whispered quickly:

\- "You didn't tell Yang about Menagerie?"- Blake turned to check if they had been heard. Ruby was now suggesting adding extra blades in Yang's arm as the blonde tried to calm down her sister's mechanic urges of improvement. Making sure they hadn't heard, she replied: - "I said that it was in good hands and that I was given a goodbye ceremony. It's the truth and I didn't want that to influence Yang's decision. I will tell her eventually, but I don't think that it matters at the moment."- Weiss looked troubled as she considered what Blake had said and made a weird movement with her head, like if she physically making an effort to weight in the possibilities. She finally said after a while:

-"I don't know Blake, I think you should tell her but… fair enough, I guess. As long as you don't keep this on the dark for too long, it should be fine. Just… try not to take that long please. Remember you are still in a position of authority and news do catch up with external politics. It wouldn't be good if Yang happens to catch the latest report on Menagerie's authorities as Lisa Lavender presents it on VNN."- Blake flinched slightly at what her friend was saying. She knew that she was right to a degree… she would have to tell Yang sooner than what she had planned to. She didn't like to keep information from the blonde but she was too scared that Yang would send her away as soon as she learned she was still connected to the comings and goings of the Island.

\- "Hey, is everything ok?"- Blake rose her face towards Yang's direction and smiled softly at her. The sisters had stopped talking a few seconds ago and seemed like they had noticed their respective partners had stopped their conversation awkwardly. Blake realized it was time to move things along.

-"Everything is fine Yang, thank you. I was just starting to wonder if we were going to have breakfast soon? I'm still a bit weary from the trip but I didn't want to impose myself, I'm sorry girls."- It was a bit of a lame excuse but it seemed to work as Yang asked Ruby if she needed help with making breakfast. Blake sighed as she felt Weiss' hand on her shoulder.

\- "I'm sorry, but I needed to tell you what I thought… Let's go help them."- Weiss said as she turned towards her wife and daughter. Blake was only glad that she could always count on Weiss to let her know whenever she needed to do something boldly.

Blake looked downwards as she collected her emotions; the bright yellow crest over her heart soon pulled her vision towards it and sent her thoughts in another direction. A world where she wasn't wearing a borrowed shirt, but one where she wore her love's symbol over her heart for the world to see. If she had to keep a few things from the one she loved to make it a reality… then so be it.

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 **Hopefully i did good? i felt a bit rusty on places but i think i managed just fine. Maybe, let me know for sure? Also i got a suggestion from a guest to refrain on my more colorful descriptions when saying who is talking. I can see what they meant so i tried to keep it light this chapter. Let me know if you thinkit's better or if you guys think i should write as i do normally; I'm from the era in schools where we were encouraged to not repeat pronouns and names, so this chapter made me a bit paranoid.**

 **Also, i realize we are entering a bit of a calm section in the story, so bear with me as i try to make it as interesting as possible Dx i swear things won't be as slow as this chapter Dx Please let me know what your thoughts are on the matter :) Thank you so much for reading, I'll go and reply to last chapter's reviews now. Thank you all! :D**


	17. Chapter 17

**I live! Dxx Let me tell you first how sorry I am it took me this long to update Dx I've been working on this chapter for the last 2 or 3 weeks and couldn't finish it Dx Don't worry, I'm ok. Thank you so much for your concerned messages, it was mostly classes and homework than had me going insane. I'm almost done, my classes end this monday but i figured I couldn't leave you guys hanging any longer. That means, we go back to our weekly updates! yay :D until i start classes again but I'll try harder this time to make it :) Anyways, It's been a rollercoaster in the community, but i'll talk about that in the end notes. This is officially the longest chapter in this fic. Enjoy!**

* * *

Floating around in the vacant space of the mind is one of the best feelings in the world, or so Yang would think. As long as there's nothing concerning her, nothing to worry about at the moment… she gets that little moment of reprieve; that moment when you have woken up from slumber but you don't open your eyes… unconcerned by anything that would normally be a problem.

She doesn't know why is that she is feeling this way… she can't quite remember the last time she even had a moment to feel free of anything. But it proves to be short-lived as she feels the back of her missing hand itching with such a force that she groans loudly as she sits up in bed and opens her eyes… her pupils moving quickly to the place she knows there's nothing to look at but can't help to feel the phantom pains that appear from time to time.

She can be glad that at least it's just itching this time and not the feeling of a scalding blade where she lost it; she quickly shakes her head to clear the thought from her mind but ends up making herself dizzy with the motion.

\- "Damn it. That's just great, today's feeling great already."- she says with sarcasm. As she starts inspecting the metal plate that is covering her stump in search of anything that may be out of place, she is reminded that there's something missing. She looks around the room for a clue of what's going on while her head catches up with her and then her eyes settle on the folded articles of clothing inside a clear bag, resting on the small table near the door.

That's right, Blake's laundry items on her table means that her mind didn't conjure the last 48 hours out of pathetic desperation, but merely that she forgot for a moment that Blake was offered a room at Weiss' and Ruby's place. Well… more like offered a room, she was offered the only spare room they had for her. The look on Blake's face while she tried to explain that she didn't want to impose herself and Weiss pretty much saying she wouldn't get a no for an answer brought a wide smile from Yang's lips.

As she began her morning, Yang started reminiscing about the day before and all that had happened.

Seeing her team whole again made her nostalgic of a time where everything was more… innocent and carefree as they could be. But seeing Blake trying to connect again, even as she apologized again and again…. It brought a warm feeling in Yang's heart, it made her feel hopeful that perhaps someday… they could be something more, something so great and safe that it would overpower every feeling of fear and loneliness her mind could think about. The capacity of trusting Blake to stay with her, it seemed a bit more possible as the hours passed… step by baby-step… there was a chance it could happen.

Yang was half-way done with getting ready for the day as she brushed her teeth in the small bathroom of her rented room, her hair was already brushed and dry after her shower… every golden lock falling into place around her face. She looked at her eyes and realized the bags under them were less prominent than for the last… well, all the time in the last few years. As she realized all of this, Yang tried to stop herself before thinking about anything that could go wrong and make her go back to her darkest thoughts. The ones she used to have when she wasn't throwing herself in the middle of an area infested by Grimms, the ones that had been coming back to haunt her less and less as the years passed, but that she knew would come full force if Blake wasn't true to her word.

She felt her frame shudder at the idea and made herself focus on something else. Like the fact that Blake was probably waiting for her to go back to Ruby's place and give her the recently cleaned clothes so she would actually be comfortable.

Yang smiled as she remembered Blake saying she could wake up early and go to Yang's place, but Yang decided that the trip would be for naught, considering they were going to have breakfast with Ruby and Weiss, so they would need to go back anyways. Blake seemed a bit against the idea of parting ways but agreed after a bit of thinking.

As much as it brought warm feelings to Yang's chest, she didn't want Blake to think that they had to be attached to the hip either, it was only normal if they were not actually physically together all the time. Blake seemed intent for making up for lost time, but Yang knew it would have to be a slower progression, for the sake of both of them. Being partners again after so long and all the emotional things that they had in their history together would take a little time to slide perfectly into place as a unit.

Yang was done getting ready as she went for her leather jacket, shivering slightly as she felt the leather chafe slightly against her skin, being a reminder that Blake still had her shirt on and that she would definitely want her to take it off. The wording of her thoughts made her blush alone in the room as she forced herself not to think about Blake disrobing in any way. Thinking ahead of time could prove to be a dangerous thing so instead she zipped her jacket up and fiddled with her scarf to put it neatly into place.

She heard a buzz and a beep coming from her bed, so in a few strides, she managed to get to her scroll. The notification of a message from Blake adorned her screen and almost brought her to tears, as pathetic as the thought was… she had only dreamed for that to happen for so long, that now that it had happened, she couldn't push herself to open the notification.

When she finally did, she read:

 **Good morning Yang, I hope I didn't wake you. Well, actually I hope I did… you were awake already, right? Early bird? Anyways, I wanted to make sure in case you forgot it that we are having a "Team RWBY plus Blau" breakfast today, since Weiss has to go back to work tomorrow and we haven't decided yet on our plans…. I just wanted to make sure. Please, don't forget my clothes, I'm really sorry you had to lend me your shirt. It's really comfy but I know leather is not a skin-friendly kind of cloth. See you in a few…**

Yang sighed as she thought about Blake, she could read between the lines that she was worried about what Yang was thinking about her. It was becoming clear that they both still had things they needed to work through, but hopefully it would all work out… eventually.

Yang put her scroll down and reached for her side bag, she pulled her compact battle prosthesis out and with a quick motion, it deployed itself to its full-length with a few sounds here and there. She put it on with a click and a small grimace at the feeling of her nerves connecting with the innards of Edgy and picked up her scroll again. She could definitely do it one handed, but that would take twice as long.

' _Morning Blake! I was awake, don't worry :D also I didn't forget about our get together, give me some credit here hahaha. Anyways, I have your clothes and I'll bring them with me, don't worry about my shirt, it's not a problem :) I'll be there soon, I'm gonna bring my baby with me, yesterday night I made sure she was ok so all I need is to take her for a ride around town. I'll be just in time, let Weiss know in case she starts calling me old timey names again. See you there!_

She closed her scroll after she was done typing and headed to get the rest of her stuff. It's not like she actually had much with her, after all, the rest of her belongings where in the storage with her baby or all over her other safe houses she had stayed at before. She looked at her right hand as she remembered she had left the Little Dragon model somewhere in Mantle… it was a bit too big but it got enough heat going around that she avoided getting a frozen arm because of the terrible cold. Maybe she would visit her uncle and take it back sometime? They could swap a few stories here and there… not at a bar though, she didn't want to see him looking at any bar tender's skirt. She shook herself out of her thoughts and made her way out the door.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

\- "Are you going to tell her today? Or are you going to wait some more?"- In her defense, Weiss had tried hard not to ask that question for most of the morning, but as Yang mentioned she had brought her motorcycle, the opportunity couldn't have been better. She suggested that maybe Yang should take Ruby for a ride around town, to have some sister bonding fun. Yang seemed to like the idea, and told Weiss she would lend her helmet to her sister; Ruby reminded Weiss that Blau needed to take her nap in 10 minutes, since she had been up since very early, and just pushed her sister out of the room.

Going by the squinting of her eyes, Blake seemed to know something was up, but didn't ask any question. It wasn't until Weiss managed to lull her daughter to sleep and let her rest in her crib that she asked the question.

\- "I told you yesterday that I would, just… not right now. We are trying to reconnect first. So far we are doing ok but I don't want to mess this up… We are supposed to go around town today, to talk about what we are going to do…"- Blake started fiddling with the cloth that covered her arms as she talked; she could feel Weiss' intense stare on her.

\- "I know, it's just… I don't want for all of your effort to fall apart if you are not the one to tell Yang the whole truth. You said you would leave your position of Chieftess if Yang had other plans in mind, that you had done so much already. I can vouch for that, I know you have done a lot, but… are you truly done? Your father is acting as Chieftain for the moment, but then what happens if someone else takes charge? What if that person does not believe in equality and all your work is for nothing? What if the team you wanted to assemble is filled with bigots, idiots and people with ulterior motives and they mess things up?"- As she spoke, Blake felt conflicted. Weiss had a point in a way, was she ready to see the fruit of her efforts for equality in the hands of someone else? Was she ready to leave it all for Yang? In her heart, the answer was yes, but she knew… part of her would be heartbroken for what the future could have been if she had been at the helm. It was stupid to even think that the worse could even happen, but it had happened before; evil and bad people are always lurking, waiting for the moment to strike. What if a new radical group arose in her absence, what if they struck her father down and took charge of the island? Breaking all sort of communication and deals with the other allies? Terrorizing the island and starting a new revolution? And to top it all, what if Yang found out she hadn't been a hundred percent honest? What if she saw that as Blake not trusting her? All those things took hold of her mind and it must have shown immediately because Weiss touched her arm in concern.

\- "Blake, I don't mean to scare you or make you feel bad. But it is a thing that could happen. I'm asking you the hard questions because I know you are not going to ask them to yourself; I don't necessarily believe that it will happen, but it's a possibility that you may care more than you let on. I'm not usually one to think about the worst case scenario but I do make contingency plans for anything. I don't want to force you to talk before you are ready, but I think you shouldn't be holding this information for too long. Then again, maybe I'm worrying too much and Yang doesn't even bat an eyelash at what you'll tell her. But you won't know until you do."- Blake was looking at the floor now, thinking about what Weiss had said. Seeing that the Faunus wasn't going to respond, Weiss continued.

\- "When you say that you still love Yang, I believe it… It is a fact that you can take important decisions about her in the blink of an eye and I know you have been thinking about leaving everything behind for her, now that she has agreed to take you back into her life again. But I want to make sure that you understand completely what you are renouncing to. It's not only about the chieftaincy; equality and justice have been a real dream of yours for years, hasn't it? I've been doing some thinking myself, so know I ask: Yang is also a dream of yours… why not have both?". - At that, golden eyes rose and clashed with icy blue; a look of confusion in Blake's face.

\- "What do you mean with that? Both?". - Weiss looked at her like she had asked the most stupid question in the world, and she supposed, in a way that could be true.

\- "I mean precisely that, Blake. Why not have both? If Yang wants to go huntressing the world with you, and you want to fight for equality as you have been doing so far… and assuming that you both want to be together… why not merging those two dreams?"- Now it was Blake who looked at Weiss like she had said the stupidest thing ever. Of all time.

\- "Did you forget that Menagerie is a place free of humans? You know? One of the reasons I went there in the first place all those years ago?"- but as she said that, Weiss smirked at her and asked in a challenging way:

\- "Oh I don't know… isn't there a mission pending to look for able Huntsmen and Huntresses to help with the explorations of newly discovered territories? Wasn't this already publicly announced three days ago in Menagerie? Or did you forget you had to do that?"- As Weiss' smile widened in a manner that reminded her of the disturbing maniacal moments she used to have back on Beacon Academy; Blake realized she was right. There was a window of opportunity there, one she hadn't even considered… but it wasn't that simple.

\- "That's a good idea Weiss, but you forgot a few things… Wanting equality for my people doesn't mean that I want to be Chieftess again, just that I long to see that happen. Yang is a free spirit, I don't think she would like to stay longer than a few weeks in one place, and least of all, the place I ran away to so she wouldn't follow me- There's also the fact that we don't know for sure how long it would take to complete the mission, and I really don't want to impose the possibility of doing a mission there if we haven't even been together in one in so many years! Who knows if we still work well as a unit?". - Weiss looked intently into her eyes and Blake could see the grooves moving in her head, processing and looking for ways to build a counter argument.

\- "Well, you won't know for sure if you keep it to yourself for too long. All I am saying is that perhaps you need to think about these things more thoroughly than quicker; but even as I say that… news do travel fast. You don't want Yang learning you are on leave and that you have at least one more thing to do with the island before you get to explain it."- Blake looked down again and nodded slightly, she would have to search in her heart for answers about all the possibilities Weiss had presented at her.

\- "I would like to say as well that I'm sorry if I'm being too pushy about this. This is the last time you will hear me talking about this topic, unless you want to talk to me about it."- Weiss seemed a bit worried now, that she had made Blake upset, so the Faunus shook her head slowly and as she raised her hand to touch her shoulder she said:

\- "Thank you Weiss, I understand you mean well. I will give this some thought."- Weiss nodded at her and as she was about to invite Blake into the living room, when the sound of laughter made itself known, along with the sound of an opening door.

\- "I can't believe you did that! When and HOW?"- Yang's voice reached Blake's ears and her heart skipped a beat, she sounded more amused and flabbergasted than angry; the thought of Yang being happy brought comfort to her reeling mind. Soon enough the manic giggles stopped for a moment so Ruby's answer could be heard.

\- "Remember that red light in the 2nd avenue with Kingdom street? The store was right there!"- She soon erupted into laughter again, just as Blake and Weiss made their way to the hall. Weiss was walking faster for some reason, so much that Blake almost though she was gliding across one of her glyphs.

\- "You dolts! Blau is sleeping! What could possibly be so amu…"- Weiss stopped herself in time when she saw her wife and her sister in law. Blake peered curiously behind her, wondering what had happened until she saw the way Ruby was trying to hide something behind her. Something bigger than her body could hide and failing magnificently at it. She seemed guilty somehow and was trying to hide it amongst the inner folding of her cape.

\- "Oh hi Weiss! Love of my life! The mother of my child! I've missed you soo much! I wanted to go back to you and my baby girl as soon as possible when I was out there that…".

\- "Ruby Rose! Is that what I think it is? Is that, by any chance what the doctor told you not to eat too much of because your body is adjusting back to normal?"- Blake had been confused until she looked at the way Ruby was starting to sweat. Yang looked upset at her sister now.

\- "Ruby, is that why you told me to use that road instead of the 1st? Did you just use your big sis so you could have forbidden sweets?"- Ruby looked guiltily at the ground and nodded as she let her cargo fall at the feet; a big brown bag with the letters "Vale's little house of sweets" and the smiling face of a kid at the side.

\- "Yes! I'm so sorry! I wasn't going to eat all of them! I just wanted a few! Besides, this sweet old lady makes them and I was her usual buyer until I got pregnant and now her business is not making as much money without my purchases! I'm so sorry!"- - She seemed like she was close to tears, so Weiss sighed and made her way towards her wife.

\- "Uh… Blake, you haven't seen the changes I did to my bike, want to go check them out?"- Blake was grateful for the suggestion and nodded quickly as she heard Weiss preparing herself to talk to an almost crying Ruby.

When they stepped outside and into the street, they sighed deeply. It was one thing to have team bonding and another differently when there was a situation between spouses. Not that they thought it could get worse, just that they didn't want to be a part of a bigger discussion, or just plain get in the way of a sweet moment between their teammates. There was a bench at the side of the street so they decided to sit over there until they could go back to the apartment without feeling like intruding. Yang was still puzzled about what had happened.

\- "I can't believe she tricked me! I didn't notice she even left my bike for a second and only realized it when I saw the bag in the way to the door!"- Blake laughed softly at the thought of Ruby disappearing and appearing behind Yang without her noticing.

\- "She was always so fast, it's logical to think she would be faster now… even if she has been off-duty. Tales of the Grimm Reaper have reached everywhere, they do say that she's so fast, it looks like she hasn't moved an inch and then suddenly all the Grimm fade with the wind. I'd like to see if that's true."- Yang laughed goodheartedly and said:

\- "Thankfully for her, the tales don't say anything about the Grimm Reaper being addicted to chocolate cookies or all her street cred would wash away in an instant."- Blake laughed, and as she did, she felt a fluttering in her heart again, that feeling of being content that she only felt when Yang was around. However, the feeling paused for a moment when Yang asked her:

\- "So, have they heard about me in Menagerie?"- It wasn't like she was asking something difficult, it made complete sense in the context she has asked, but it made Blake grow nervous about the other way the conversation could go to. Blake hadn't said anything about Yang until she talked with her mother; no big tales about the woman that had saved her life, the one that she loved more than she loved herself. Not even a single story about their beacon days, or the war… Although it wasn't a secret either, it was known in the island that her old team had been partly responsible for the safety of the world; but not even once had she talked about Yang to them, not from a personal stand point.

But that was only one of the reasons she had grown worried; the other was the inevitable path the conversation could go to… the one about her duties as Chieftess… past tense or not, talking about the things she had done, about the recent situation…. Blake wasn't ready to tell her yet.

So instead, she made a poor impression of someone trying to think hard on something as she calmed her nerves and talked in a way that wouldn't push her to spill the beans just yet. She avoided looking at Yang as she did so.

\- "Uhmm… let me see…. The Dragon Huntress… yeah, I think I've heard a fisherman talking about you once."- She looked at Yang in a sideway glance that she hoped would mask her fears. Yang looked unimpressed but thankfully, it seemed to be about what she had said and not her poor acting job.

\- "Really? Only a fisherman? Excuse me, but how in the name of Remnant is it possible that they've heard about the Grim Reaper and not me? I've been doing 50 times more missions than Ruby in the last few years!?"- Blake sighed as she realized she had evaded the bullet for now, and said:

\- "Well, Ruby works primarily in Vale, which is where most of our trading comes from, she's also married to Weiss, who is… let's say… a healthy kind of popular in Menagerie, due to the many deals which have with the new SDC. It's possible that the fact that you take so many missions in who knows where, that you aren't as known there."- Yang pouted in a way that made Blake's heart constrict as she fought not to break her neutral expression.

\- "I'll have you know, that I have a bit of a following in Vacuo and free drinks and food in any restaurant in Mantle. Also, there's this place at the western coast of Sanus where they are building a statue of me. I said it wasn't necessary, but the locals insisted. The ceremony is due in 5 months or so; maybe… I was a bit dizzy that day… too much heat can knock me down, after all..."- Blake smiled at her and couldn't keep silent anymore.

\- "I was joking Yang, Of course it's not only that one guy that knows about you. But it is true that Ruby and Weiss are more known in Menagerie. You are the most mysterious one of the group, but they are aware that you are a hero as well, don't worry too much about it."

Fortunately for Blake, it seemed like Yang was content enough with her answer that she didn't speak for a while. They just sat there in comfortable silence, as they looked at the people passing by. Blake noticed that the quantity of people moving around the streets wasn't what it used to be like in her Beacon days. The kingdom of Vale was still being re-built after all, it made sense that not everyone would go back to it as soon as possible. Re-locating anywhere was a tiring process, it would take some time for things to go back to normal anytime soon.

\- "So, Blake, uh… this was not how I imagined it, but maybe we could talk about what we are going to do? In the foreseeable future, I mean."- Blake turned to look at Yang and saw that for some reason, she was nervous; which was a funny thing to think about, considering Blake was blocking all thoughts about her little conversation with Weiss for the moment. She felt her ears trying to move backwards, but held them in position when she reminded herself that it would be too telling if she allowed Yang to see them do that.

\- "Well, what do you want to do? I'm kind of at your disposition."- She blushed as she said that, realizing it could be taken in different ways. – "Uh, I mean… I'm waiting for you to decide on what we should do."- She felt Yang's eyes on her and she went out of her way to look at the people crossing the street near them.

\- "Blake, if anything, I think we should decide together. I have a few ideas but I want to hear yours as well."- She could hear her smile in the way she said the last few words, and she tried to relax. She finally turned to look at her and got caught in the way Yang was looking at her, with complete attention and unwavering warmth that left her breathless in a second. Her gaze was too intense, too strong, she could feel her heart drumming in her chest. But she tried to calm herself, there was no need to make a fool out of herself because of the way Yang's beautiful lilac eyes pierced their way into her soul.

\- "Well, uh… I think I'd like to train with you, see how we work together now. Perhaps a few spars here and there. But there's no need for us to stay idle while we do that; maybe we can take a few small missions around Vale, think we should stay here for a bit before we decide do anything big. What do you suggest, Yang?"- Beside her initial fumble of words, she managed to say it all without hesitation. Yang nodded at her and said:

\- "I agree; we should definitely get our spar on… But I've been checking the boards in the last few days and well, there's not much around to do here. Except, you know, small missions here and there. But, considering we may want to keep things light, I guess it could be good enough to start."- Blake nodded at her with a smile and let her continue, as she saw she was tilting her head slightly to side and opening her mouth again.

\- "Well, after that, there are many places we could go to; I was looking a few days ago at an Extermination mission just East of Mantle and there's a level 5 at the North of Mistral, but… uh, do you have any suggestions?"- There was it again, another opportunity to just say what she was failing to address; but, was it a good time now? Was it really a good idea to just come out and say that she knew for a fact that help was needed in Menagerie? No, she couldn't right now, especially since she hadn't really thought on it just yet, it would have to wait a bit more… so she just said:

\- "Actually I think we should wait until we are ready for the world, if we plan right now, chances are the missions will be taken already. Let's just… go slow with this."- She knew that she was talking about their Huntressing career, but she couldn't help it when her heart skipped a bit, not with the way Yang was smiling at her, a bit of pink dusting her own cheeks.

-"Ok, yeah, I can see why that's better. Don't worry Blake, I have hopes that it won't take that long to get into sync again, and then… Well… I guess the world is ours to roam?"- Blake laughed softly as she tried to hide her nervousness, feeling already the familiar guiltiness an anxiety curling up into each other and trying to nest in her heart. She was keeping something from her, she promised to be honest and yet, she was keeping something important from her. Suddenly, she felt something on her knee and turned to look at Yang's outstretched hand laying softly over her kneecap; without having a reason to avoid looking into her eyes, Blake was forced to make eye contact, as she heard:

\- "Hey, is everything ok? You are acting… a bit off."- Blake looked into lilac orbs and could read the unvoiced question in them: _What are you doing? I thought we were past this._

The question echoed in her head in the quick manner one's thoughts travel through the mind, the voice changing from Yang's soft spoken tone, to her self-deprecating own and finally, to Weiss' accusatory one. What was she doing? What the actual hell was she doing?

She seemed to wake from a dream as she felt Yang's hand leaving her knee, a weird mix of emotions clear in her eyes. She almost kicked herself to answer before the silence grew bigger; feeling a bead of sweet start to roll down her temple.

\- "I, I'm sorry. I was thinking that I…"- could she say it? Could she really do it? She glanced downwards and back to the blonde's eyes again, trying to still her ranting mind. Then, something seemed to click into Yang's mind as she quickly put her left hand over Blake's forehead as she asked:

\- "Do you feel ok? Is your temperature rising? You haven't fainted again since that night, right?"- Blake was utterly confused for a moment, until she realized Yang thought she was getting sick again, to which she felt both glad and angered, since it meant she had an extra chance to get herself out of telling Yang about Menagerie, again.

\- "Oh, I haven't, seriously. I'm feeling better, Yang, that's not it."- Yang let her hand fall back to its place and then peered closely into Blake's eyes.

\- "Then, what is it?"- Nice job getting yourself back into troubled zone, Blake. She thought as she tried not to feel panicked. She sighed as she weighted her options quickly. What would it be? Would she go down the honest route, or crawl back again into the cowardly one?

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Although it hadn't been that long since he had last sat at his office chair and looked into official matters with a cup of tea by his side, it was proving to be a rather… different task of sorts. A few years back, everything was much more simple; having to respond for every Faunus in the Island was an easier thing when you didn't have this many business partners and kingdoms to rely information to. He was starting to realize why Blake's resting face always looked drained of energy and, well… plain tired. Managing Menageries modern deals wasn't easy; fortunately for him though, Blake had left behind a capable assistant to help him when he was lost on what to do or why this dealer was asking for this or why that partner was saying this other thing and even, the inner dealings with their people. Ghira looked up from a pile of letters addressed to his daughter and told himself that he wasn't intruding by doing so. It's just that he hadn't known that this many Faunus wrote to her daily. He was more used to speaking directly with their people, back on his governing period; but even so, he hadn't been aware of the nature of this letters until he read them.

He was surprised shortly after Blake had left, by Yana in the office, carrying a big satchel with some effort and explaining to him what the content was. Turns out that since she started making deals left and right with people in the continents, some elders and some people had started writing to her in hopes to make their point across onto why she was making a big mistake for doing so. Well, most of them were… there were a happy few ones in there…

Thinking about the difference with his own tenure, Ghira rationalized that It wasn't like he didn't have people that opposed his ideas… after all, he left the White Fang for a reason; and even as Chieftain, there was also the odd letter or two, but right now he was talking about 15 letters every 3 to 4 days, from different family heads and small groups of people. All of them complaining about one thing or another.

He understood why they had started to do that, but seeing the growth in their economy and the newer opportunities should have been enough to realize that Blake was doing good things for their island. Except, like always, it seemed that change wasn't that easy to happen. Especially when the people writing had a previous connection with the decimated White Fang. It wasn't the reformed people that wrote to her, no. It was familiars, friends and sons and daughters of long gone White Fang members.

He sighed as he scratched his beard in thought. They knew that it wasn't fair to discriminate such individuals just because of who they had been connected to in the past, but it was eerily funny that some of them were the ones complaining very passionately in their letters.

Ghira took the envelope of the letter he was currently reading and turned to look again at who it was from. Rouge Lycannas, the young daughter of his own friend who had died 11 years ago, when Khann was in charge; Rojizo Lycannas. A wolf Faunus that was quick of thought and even quicker on his feet. He had stayed in the Fang after Ghira's departure, stating that it was the only way to truly change the world. He had said he would look out for Blake in exchange of Ghira looking out for his daughter in the Island. He had never asked Blake what exactly had happened to him, when she managed to communicate after leaving the Fang, but she had said he had been captured by some humans in an operation that had gone wrong, like many did at the start of Khann's tenure as leader. She had refused at the time to explain in details, just to let his family now that he had died by their cause.

Now, he was looking at the angry letter of his daughter, young Rouge, who had just turned 19 a month ago. Ghira had been the one to deal the news of it to her and her mother, some years back. Seeing the anger as it appeared in the eyes of the 11-year-old, was something he never wanted to see again. The way her claws suddenly unsheathed as her mother's ears disappeared between auburn locks, and the growl of anger than resonated within him was something he would have to grow familiar with, unfortunately. As Chieftain, it was his duty to let his people know of the passing of their family in the kingdoms, whenever the news reached them. To add salt to the wound, it could have been years since their passing, but news were slow to travel back then.

He sighed once more as he re-read a passage of the letter again, trying hard not to be affected by the words of someone who had grown with hatred in her heart: _**The unnatural alliance between Faunus and humans needs to stop, NOW. You are not saving us from anything, you deluded money - whore. Our kin didn't die for naught, they didn't die so you could play pet to the Schnees and let their disgusting symbols parade on our only place free of humans; their nauseating snowflakes are everywhere and if High leader Khann were still alive, he would see to your demise, you human-loving coward! And if you don't want to see the rise of our freedom fighters again, then you better step up, sweetheart, and lead us back to the time where the word Faunus instilled fear into the hearts of mankind. For it is with our claws and our fangs the only way we'll get to our freedom. FREE MENAGERIE, FREE FAUNUS, FREE WORLD!**_

He tossed the letter back on the table and groaned loudly. His own sheeted claws trembling to come out and rip the letter to pieces. The letter was dated from a few weeks ago and even though he had been receiving more from her since Blake left, he didn't have strength and enough calm to look into the contents and not have a reaction. He was so distraught; he didn't hear the sound of steps approaching.

\- "Let me guess, is that by any chance one of Miss Lycannas' infamous letters"? - Ghira raised his golden gaze into Yana Cuy's own black one and raised an eyebrow.

\- "Miss Cuy, how did you know?"- She smiled nervously as she approached his desk, aware that she hadn't called him by his title, her scroll completely unfolded with what seemed to be a pending message on it.

\- "Well, your grace, I've seen that look on the Chief's own face before. She had been receiving them for a long time now, they are all the same… stupid ideology discourses that can be several pages long whenever we get another shipment from Miss Schnee. Nothing hardly ever changes, so the Chief just opens them, peers them over and moves on to the next letter. She hasn't worried about them in years, so much that I think she kind of forgot about the… unkind words this Rouge uses to address her. I f she doesn't worry about them, maybe you shouldn't either, your grace.

Ghira looked at her again, tapping the table to distract himself further as he said: - "I'm not too sure that Blake should keep on ignoring her and I understand that it may be too late to change her mind… her mother did pass away a few years after she learned of her father. She has been sitting in that anger and hatred for some time now. I worry that this will unfold in ways we are not prepared for."- the rodent Faunus scrunched her nose in thought and tilted her head to the side.

\- "I understand, your grace. I will start monitoring Rouge Lycannas from now own, leave it to me."- She held her scroll higher now and cleared her throat. – "Sir, you just got a message from one of our business partners."- She held it in front of Ghira and he tiredly took the device from her hands.

\- "It feels weird to be addressed as Miss Belladonna, but I guess it's a bit of fun in a way."- He smiled at his daughter's assistant and saw her snicker slightly.

\- "Well sir, no such fun today I'm afraid. This one, is addressed to you."- She gave a small bow and turned to leave the room, leaving Ghira with a puzzled expression on his face.

He looked at the greeting and raised his eyebrow again.

Good afternoon, Mister Belladonna. I am deeply sorry that this is the first conversation we will participate in; after all, I have known Chieftess Belladonna for some time and I was hoping we would meet under different circumstances. But I digress, I wanted to talk to you and express my concerns about…

Completely thrown off by the overly formal message, even for a partner of Menagerie, he looked up where the sender's name would be and this time, his other eyebrow joined the first all the way up into his hairline.

Well, wasn't this an interesting day?

O0o0o0oo0o0o0o0o0o

She wasn't really mad, not at all… just concerned. There was a reason to why her wife was banned from eating cookies and other sugary treats; a reason as to why she needed to drink water constantly… since she got pregnant, something else changed as well. Something about her metabolism working in finicky ways and not processing nutrients how it was supposed to resulted in a fatigued Ruby through the first month. Weiss had to drag her to the hospital and see many doctors and specialists, until they managed to make a diagnosis.

Because of the nature of the procedure where they managed to have Blau, the dust involved with certain chemicals had made a reaction in her body. They had to ban her from eating sweets, having to drink a lot of water, to take it easy for the rest of her pregnancy and not exercise until Blau was 6 months old. That also meant for them not to get intimate and having to wait some more.

Ruby had been really worried it would be permanent, and that she wouldn't be able to go huntressing anymore, but fortunately, it wasn't the case. But as much as she had been worried, she had been tempted to eat said sweets again and again and Weiss had been forced to be a little strict about it.

Since Blau was already 6 months old, Ruby was no longer fully banned, but was supposed to be taking it easy. Definitely not buying an enormous sack of sweets and treats for her to chew on in an instant. However, it was true that she hadn't had bad intentions about it, Weiss had seldom seen the place Ruby had bought said items from and she couldn't help to agree that the place needed some help.

She rationalized all this as she hugged her wife, who had been really close to tears before Blake and Yang had left. It had been some minutes now, but she could feel Ruby's breathing pattern going back to normal.

\- "I'm sorry Weiss, I let you down. Apart from the old lady's struggles… I also wanted some sweets."- Of course, Weiss knew this. Ruby had a big heart, but sugary treats were her weakness… well, one of them. She was also weak to Weiss' disappointed remarks but she didn't like using them.

\- "You could have told me; you know? I would have gone there with you and buy some things from her. Perhaps even let you keep some of the items… But Ruby, you have to take it slow. Just a handful of what is in that bag alone could make this whole process be for naught… Do you want that? Do you remember how sluggish you were those days? How you feel drained? Do you want Blau to see her always happy mommy too tired to take care of her?"- It hurt Weiss to do this, but she needed to make her point across. She felt Ruby slightly trembling in her arms and hugged her harder in return.

-"I'm sorry Weiss. It won't happen again. I'm sorry.". - Weiss sighed and started petting her hair, telling her that it was ok.

Ruby eating cookies and sugary things was something that may have been a bit of a joke when they were younger, back on their Beacon days where she had even prepared coffee for her with cream and 5 sugars... but it wasn't something funny anymore. Maybe it wasn't a life or death situation, but it was something that had affected her badly and as such, it should be treated with concern. She should probably tell Yang about it…they had decided against it at first because Yang wasn't around and they knew she had her own problems to deal with… And Weiss wasn't sure of how she would react if she found out. For all she knew, she would find a way to make herself feel guilty about it.

Feeling Ruby stop her trembling, she redirected her hands so she could push her softly and look at her fully, pulling her downwards slightly. Those big silver eyes, her cute nose, the way her lip curled as she worried over what Weiss was going to say. Only she sighed and brought her foreheads together.

-"Ruby Rose, I only worry because I love you too much to even try to explain. It's going to be ok; we'll find a way to distribute your purchase… You did help the old lady with that, so… I'll be… nicer."- she ended with a knowing smile as she saw the way Ruby's mind travelled to the first time Weiss had saved her life. Overcome with emotion, Ruby giggled/hiccupped and stole a kiss from her wife, who eagerly accepted her action a second later.

They were caught in their embrace when they heard voices approaching the door to their apartment. Weiss pecked her wife one last time and then made her way towards the entrance as Ruby told her she would check on Blau. Weiss opened before they could ring the bell, coming face to face with a confused Yang whose arm was suspended in the air, probably interrupted in her way to knock on the door.

\- "Come in, I gather Blake has made herself familiar already with these new changes to your bike, right?"- Of course Weiss hadn't missed Yang's rushed excuse to leave the premises and was teasing her now. The blonde huntress grinned back knowingly and moved forward, Blake was trailing behind her with a small frown, Weiss took note of this and closed the door behind her.

-"Yep, she has. She would have to anyway… we have made plans to stay in Vale for a while, but after that, It's an open road, baby!"- She said with mirth as she made herself comfortable in the couch, but Weiss didn't miss the way Blake seemed to stiffen her shoulders. She made her way in front of the Faunus and asked her just with a raised eyebrow what was going on. So Blake only mouthed in return the words Soon and Not yet.

Weiss took a moment to gather her thoughts as Blake went to sit next to Yang, still oblivious to a detail that had the potential to ruin the little trust that was building itself back again between those two. She didn't want to intrude in what was essentially something between two people. Only these two people were very important to her and she didn't want to see them separated ever again. She would have to be bolder and take action… she took her scroll out and quickly checked her schedule, that apparently said that she was supposed to message the Chieftess of Menagerie in a week about some cargo reaching the island. Well, she thought as she edited the entry, it would be nice to speak with a good father figure that wasn't her in-law. As much as she liked Taiyang, there were so many puns and jokes she could handle. When she finishing editing her schedule, she pocketed her scroll and marched forward to sit opposite of her friends, thinking about how was the best way to help them with their problem. She only hoped she wasn't making a mistake.

* * *

 **Well, that was a thing xD I'm sorry if I'm making you suffer with some of the things happening, but we need to get somewhere first so we can continue on this ride :) My plans haven't changed and i still know where this is going, so don't worry about me abandoning this fic, it's my baby and Im definitely not Raven.**

 **Now I'm gonna talk about the OST debacle, if you don't want to read it, skip to the next paragraph.**

 **Talking about recent goings in the community... Well, i must say i was very happy when we got the OST for V4, This life is mine was something i never knew i needed until i got it. Now, about Bmblb. I realize this may be painful for some of you if not all of you... I got excited, like many... but a life of dissapointments taught me not to get my hopes up just yet. And you know what? i still hope in my heart that we may actually get something in the show, perhaps... and if it doesn't happen... Well, this ship belongs to the community, to the bees that are us. If i can guilty pleasure ship Freezerburn on the side, I can damn well ship Bumbleby even if i get told again and again that it won't be canon, because I... like many, saw the potential and we went for it, not because of any reason, other that it makes sense to me. Why this 2 characters should end up together is something we saw and we embraced it, out of nowhere, out of nothing, out of no one's plans. You may agree with me or not, but if you love something like this, that brought you joy... don't let the negativity of others affect how you feel about this ship. I love you and I'm here for you if you need to talk :) granted, it may take me sometime to anwer, but i always do :)**

 **I'm done. Thank you for reading :) Please let me know your thoughts on this chapter, how you think I'm doing or anything you may want to say. Thank you so much for sticking with the story :)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello guys! I'm sorry this took a bit longer than expected Dx i'm currently on my winter break, at the beach xD so yeah... no internet, i'm on borrowed time so i'm sorry if i don't get to answer to all your reviews right away. Anyways, i hope you enjoy :)**

* * *

Having your favorite food for dinner should be enough to pick you up when you're down, right? Well, apparently, not every time. Pushing his deep fried tuna with one unsheathed claw, Ghira sighed loudly, not feeling hungry enough at the moment. Thinking about everything and anything, he was too distracted to do anything else.

\- "Out with it dear, we both know something is troubling you."- The voice of his wife made him snap back to attention and raise his head towards her. She was eyeing him quizzically with her beautiful golden eyes, trying to read him further.

\- "I'm worried about Blake."- he stopped poking his food and took a napkin to clean his claw. As he did, Kali frowned slightly.

-"Blake? Why? She sent a message a few days ago. She's back with her whole team and is working on fixing things with her partner."- She seemed a bit confused for a moment until some kind of understanding shone in her eyes, and the tentative smile she had sported as she ended her sentence, dropped entirely. – "There's more to it, isn't it? Do you know about something she's not telling us?"- Ghira nodded slowly and started looking for something on the inside pocket of his coat.

\- "Unfortunately… today I received a message from the one and only Weiss Schnee. I took notes on some of the things she said, since Miss Cuy has to keep tabs on the other incoming messages from our allies… she parted with the scroll that had it."- Kali grew worried at his statement and anxiously waited until he finally found what he was looking for, a folded paper the size of his palms. He spread the paper fully and passed it to his wife. She took it and read it as he explained.

\- "I thought it was something about our deals with her company but this was another kind of message. It seems that I didn't give enough credit to Miss Schnee… She's very smart and apparently knows our daughter quite well…. she's worried for Blake and her partner. Blake is keeping her connection with Menagerie's future a secret still and that could take a very wrong turn with her partner."- He had been looking at the picture of his family that was hanging on their wall, so he turned his attention back to his wife and saw the way she was holding the paper as she read. He could see the way her eyebrow raised with some of the things she was reading, and to be honest, he wished he had the original message to show her.

Apart from the content of her missive, the way that Weiss Schnee wrote about the things Blake was missing to address about her situation made Ghira realize that she truly understood his daughter in ways only a real friend could. It hurt him that Blake was still keeping important information not only from the woman she said she loved but from her own parents, who were only trying their best to help her out. He sighed once again as he started wondering when she would realize she couldn't continue to keep things to herself.

He suspected that the apparently prying nature of one Miss Schnee was the only reason anyone even knew of what she was holding back to say. He truly loved his daughter but she was prone to do things in not the best of ways sometimes.

He heard his wife sigh and saw as she put the paper down on the table; she shifted her gaze back to Ghira's. and said:

\- "Reading this, it seems like she is asking us to do something about it. Quite politely but still… Of course I want to help Blake, my precious kitten can be quite stubborn in the worst of times but… I'm not sure what are our options here…"- of course, he had thought so as well. Blake was an adult, had been one for quite a while, and they couldn't just go out of their way to tell her that she needed to tell the whole truth or take the final decision to resign fully of her duties.

\- "Well, I know what our last option could be… but I don't think that would be healthy for anyone…"- at Kali's questioning gaze, he added with a heavy tone: - "I could declare that her time is up, and by doing that, making sure she doesn't have to worry about coming back."- He didn't have the need to see Kali's face to know she didn't like that idea one bit, nor see the way her ears folded back a little, and not even hear the small growl at the back of her throat.

\- "Ghira!"- he raised both hands to tell her to calm down, both pools of molten gold finally meeting at once.

\- "I know Kali. I only said that it would be the last choice available, in case there's no other way to help her. But even then, anything we might do may backfire, I don't think Blake would like us to intrude in what she's doing."- he felt a pang of hurt in his chest but let It go as he remembered what they were supposed to be doing. There had to be other ways to help their daughter…

\- "I'm sorry dear, I don't like the idea of taking away Blake's choices without her knowing. I don't think she's sitting idly on this situation though, if what Miss Schnee said is true, she must be actually having a hard time deciding what to do."- Ghira nodded slowly as he supported his forehead on his hand, his elbow resting comfortably on the table. Kali looked troubled as she said:

\- "She must have thought that she wouldn't give her another chance, my poor kitten. It's easy to say that she would just drop everything but… doing it is something else entirely…"

As he heard his wife, Ghira thought back on Weiss' message… and a few things she said came back to him. Small fragments of her overly formal letter making their way back to his attention.

…wanted to talk to you and express my concerns about your daughter and the kind of decisions she has been taking for the last few days….

…I am terribly aware that it is not my place to tell you about the situation at hand….

…find it near impossible to turn a blind eye to this. Therefore, if my loyalty as a friend to your daughter is what forces me to keep quiet, my care for her future wellbeing and the one of my sister in law is what pushes me to let you know….

…. And that's something I cannot approve of...

…she is scared about what Yang will think if…

…I already told her that there is an easy way to let her know….

… her heart is set on making things more complicated than what they need to be because she Is too scared she might lose her forever…

… I even suggested…

Realization hit him quicker than a Sand Reptus in the middle of the dessert. The answer was already there, where he had read it first; it only took him some time to process it as a viable option. He opened his eyes wide and turned to his wife.

\- "Kali, I think that the CEO of the SDC just gave us the answer we needed."-

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Looking at her reflection in the polished metal, Yang was glad she was able to take it easy for the time being. With a rug in her left hand and helping herself with the metal at the end of her stump to keep the prosthesis still, she was able to work freely on cleaning her battle arm. She was sitting at the end of her bed at Junior's place, her Strawberry Sunrise already finished on the little table by the door. She hummed happily as she remembered the last few days working with Blake.

It had been just fine, taking small missions here and there, not taking more than two at a time depending on what it was. That same day they had taken a job offer in a small town a few ways away from Vale; they had departed early, riding on her Bumblebee for a few hours or so. They had been greeted by a small committee and swiftly gotten an extra detail or two about what needed to be done, apparently, a small flock of medium sized nevermores had been spotted in the nearby forest. They had attacked a farmer and his horse, fortunately for the man, something else may have happened somewhere else, because the Grimm had stopped their attack long enough for the man to scape to safety.

They were promised a certain amount of Lien and then went on their way to find the creatures or at least confirm if the flock had gone for good. Like the previous days, Yang had noticed that Blake seemed a bit more panicky than what she remembered she was like from some years ago. It wasn't bad per se, if anything, it made their job easier by becoming a beacon of emotions, but it also made Yang worried at some level.

When they had left Ruby's apartment after her escapades with the bag of sweets, Yang had asked Blake if she was still sick or not, since she was still acting a bit weird. Blake had denied it but Yang hadn't been fully convinced that something was amiss with her partner.

Yang frowned a bit as she kept on polishing the plates of her arm, thinking about Blake and whatever it could be that was making her act this way.

As much as she didn't want it, she couldn't help but think that it had something to do with her. It was almost second nature to blame herself even for a few seconds, thinking that she had said or done something wrong, but as much as she tried to identify the cause, she couldn't point it out, which made her think that perhaps it wasn't related to her at all. Maybe, she had changed down the path of time and evolved into this kind of person who acted more nervous than before, more anxious somehow…

Yang clicked her tongue when her stump slipped and her arm rolled a few ways from her; annoyed for only a few seconds, she kept on going back to today's mission.

They had left Bumblebee parked under a roof near the town's inn, not being charged as part of the payment they would receive; they made their way into the forest. Conversation was easy, as long as it didn't cover anything regarding to their past, the time they had been separated, anything regarding Menagerie or it would get really awkward very fast. So instead they talked about the missions they had taken recently, Ruby, Weiss, the beautiful bundle of love that was Blau and what they knew of some of their Beacon friends. Those topics were safe enough for Blake to relax for a bit, and Yang had noticed how her shoulders became less stiff with time.

It was all good, until Blake's ears had jumped at attention and Blake's slight nervous look had returned. Yang had started to think that maybe she was doing it on purpose, to make the Grimm come faster towards them so they could eliminate them quicker and take the rest of the day off or something, but the way her ears moved around wildly, trying to pick up on any little sound that made its way to them, it wasn't only her looking for the flock, she wasn't even supposed to be nervous on the first place, they had faced way worse than that before.

It proved to be useful when a flock of 10 or so nevermores the size of Weiss started raining down on them, trying to peck their eyes out or whatever they could get at. It was over in less than 3 minutes, with the echoes of Ember celica and Gambol Shroud still ringing in the air. A small celebration would have been in order, if it wasn't for the 3 giant Boarbatusks that appeared behind them. Powerful rolls that didn't allow for a clean shot at them, and Yang had been looking at Blake from the corner of her eye, her shoulders hunched but ready to evade again and again at the 3 giant creatures.

Yang had called for her as she propelled herself out of the way with a shot of her Ember celica, telling Blake to kept herself up in the trees as she stood in her old stance, flaring her aura and calling for the Grimm to take aim at her. One of the creatures had rolled at top speeds towards her, but she had been ready… not to punch the lights out of the Boarbatusk, but to make a large indentation in the ground with a fiery punch of her metal arm. Opening a hole enough for the Grimm to roll into, getting caught in the jagged edges of rock that were exposed by Yang's action, a second creature rolled right into it after the other, stopping them and making it impossible for them to move and cover the parts of them that didn't have any armor.

Yang smiled as she remembered the way that the encounter ended, with her deploying the hidden blades on her arm and stabbing a Grimm and then shooting the other; hearing some kind of commotion above her, back at the floor of the forest. Jumping as quickly as possible and reminded that there was another Grimm around and that Blake could be in trouble; Yang had called for her partner only to find her hunched over the neck of the upturned Boarbatusk, the part of her weapon that was a katana, deeply ingrained in its fur, the tusks of the beast buried on the ground.

Yang would never forget the look that passed between them as Blake's gaze rose to meet hers. That golden and wild look that met her own inner fire in ways she hadn't felt in a long time. She was taken in less than a second back to the Emerald Forest, that time where her world would inevitably change around that golden look and the owner of those eyes; to a time where she had finally met the person that would fight by her side with as long as she lived… but it hadn't been that way. And that thought had brought her back to reality, a reality where Blake's grip had been shakier than before, like she had been actually closer to missing that anything else. A reality where her eyes shouted a hundred apologies for leaving at the same time they made her remember how she had left her before.

Her heart had constricted the same way it was doing now, as she put down the rag and lifted her metal arm to see it against the light in her room, inspecting it further for anything she might have missed. Inspecting it with a lot of thought behind, the same way she had been reading Blake's actions ever since she came back into her life.

She sighed as she thought back on all the times they had gone to read the mission boards and Blake always seemed to be fidgeting around when they decided to look at the Search and Destroy boards or the Scouting missions for whatever reason. Part of her thought that maybe she was worried about performing poorly, since Blake had admitted shortly to have been working on a desk far longer than she would admit. But after sparring for a few hours the day after their agreement to take it easy, Yang noticed that Blake had kept in shape somehow, only reacting with surprise whenever Yang changed tactics as much as her stance.

They had been rusty working together, but at least they had a handle on their basic synchrony. As much as their recovering relationship, they would have to work on fixing their battle moves; how they fit together as part of a bigger mechanism, how they wove in between their individual moves and how they would keep each other safe.

Fortunately, no other Grimm had surprised them today; they had gone back to the town and collected their Lien, and gone back to Vale riding on Bumblebee. Yang would have been more elated to have Blake's arms circling her back as they rode back "home", if it wasn't for the fact that she couldn't help to remind herself that there was still something wrong and she didn't have a clue on to what could it be.

She sighed loudly as she left her prosthesis resting on the side of her bed and laid back on the mattress, still wearing the black shirt she had lent Blake some days ago. She felt like pulling the shirt close to her nose but she was aware that it had been washed before it was returned to her; there wouldn't be any lingering scent on it anyway…

She looked at the plain ceiling above her and let her mind wonder. She knew it could be dangerous to do so, but there was literally nothing else to do anyways, so she started thinking about the one person she couldn't help but think about.

She wanted to know what was really going on, but wouldn't push her to talk. Prying was Weiss' style, besides… it's not like she had any right to demand answers from her… did she? No, her style was telling a heartfelt story with some semblance of similarity between them and using it as an example of why it was better to talk about what was going on… and then having her heart crushed again…

Yang frowned as a groan left her lips. There it was again, trust issues ringing at her doorstep... Blake seemed to be trying; if anything, it was easy to see that she didn't want to spend time apart from Yang… trying to make up for lost time, just that she was anxious or nervous about something. Unfortunately, that was having some kind of effect on the job they were carrying.

The blonde raised her left arm and raised it all the way up in the air, trying to reach for something in the ceiling… what was she chasing? Some actual answers? A grasp on how Blake's mind worked? Patience she wasn't sure she had to let things flow naturally and not worry about it?

But that wasn't her. Her worries couldn't just evaporate in thin air like the carcass of a Grimm, nor could her love for Blake… She loved her and she wanted to be closer to her, but the fear was still there, grounding her whenever she felt like touching her in a more meaningful way, saying something nice to her. Telling her how much she truly missed her… as much as she wanted to do it, the fear lurked always near… she would be lying if she hadn't woken up at least once in the week with the idea that it was all a dream, that Blake had never returned and that she was a world away from her still.

It was hard… harder than anything she had to deal in the past, not worrying about it, when all her mind seemed to evoke was that time Blake had turned on her heels and said goodbye to her in that park. Goodbye to all the dreams Yang's mind had conjured over their reunion, over winning the war… over watching her own sister get her happy ending.

The thought alone was enough for Yang to let her hand fall next to her on the bed. She wasn't jealous and never had been jealous of Ruby's life, that wasn't something she would entertain even thinking about… it was just that… it wasn't a secret that Huntsmen and Huntresses had a tendency to die young, which it was why they were forming families and marrying young, so they could have a life before losing it. So they could leave a legacy behind to be carried by their kin. The thought of Blau following that path made her heart constrict in ways she wasn't sure of its meaning. It was a dangerous life… not even a 30% of them made it to an old age…

Which was why she had wanted to live her life next to her partner, their fates entwined, they would live their days one at a time and to the fullest. Only it had been just her own hopes and dreams… not Blake's; forgetting about the other possibilities, drunk of happiness because of the trials where her innocence had been proved… she was ready to let Blake know of her plans… only that it hadn't been that way.

Suddenly, her scroll made a beeping noise. She jolted back to reality and got up to search for the device; the way it was echoing tipped her on where it would be and she was proven right when she stepped into the bathroom. She had left it under the small mirror.

She took it and made her way back to her bed. The screen lit up under her thumb and she saw that she had received a message from Blake. The pace of her heart got quicker and Yang was forced to fight a smile off her face. Just because she was alone it didn't mean she could let herself feel her emotions fully… not when there was so much on the line.

She sat down and let her head fall on her pillows, her luscious hair falling at each side of her face; she got her breathing back to normal and let her thumb slide on the screen, opening the message.

 **Hello Yang, do you mind if I treat you to breakfast tomorrow? Just the two of us. I want to talk with you alone. Don't worry, It's not something to worry about nor something big. Have a good night.**

She realized she had been holding her breath when a few seconds passed and she started to feel dizzy. Blake wanted to talk with her alone? They had plenty of time before, why suddenly the need to make it a one on one thing? The blonde couldn't help but to be reminded of that ill-fated morning where Blake had asked if they could talk in the park. She felt something crawling from the base of her spine to her skull the same time she felt something pooling in her lungs and bringing her down. This was unusual to say the least. What was happening?

Yang shook her head vigorously to refresh her mind and took a few deep breaths. She re-read the message and this time focused in the part where Blake told her not to worry; realizing that Blake had thought in advance that Yang could misinterpret why she wanted to talk to her in the first place. Blake wouldn't leave again, there was no way. Not so soon anyways, right?

She dropped the scroll on her belly and brought her only hand to her forehead.

Yang knew logically that Blake wasn't supposed to leave but she was also aware of that dark recess of her mind that pushed her to think the worse of her partner. The part that told her in a rage-filled voice that the person she loved would ran away from her, one way or the other. She would always run from her, escape her, leave her; say goodbye and never come back.

It wasn't until she felt pain at the side of her forehead that she realized her hand had moved to grasp one of her golden locks, pulling at it in a vice-like grip. Pulling with enough force to bring her back from her troubled mind; that place she was bound to go back to the minute she became idle with swirling thoughts of her past fresh in her mind.

-"Snap out of it. Don't let it control you. You're better than this…"- she said to herself in the tone of someone who has said that too many times before. She tried to push those dark thoughts off of her, taking calming breaths and focusing on the happiness she had felt in the last few days. Just the good happy thoughts; the feeling of content and love she felt towards Blake and nothing else.

It took a few more minutes before she managed to calm herself down, to the point where she allowed herself to smile while thinking about yesterday, when Blake had finally asked if she could hold baby Blau-ie. Remembering the way Blake extended her arms with a bit of fear and then relaxing completely as the minutes passed, was enough to make her chuckle softly. The way Blau seemed to smile and make cute little noises while Blake tried not to cry at the sight made her relax her hand off of her hair and let it fall to the side.

Yang closed her eyes and opened them. Partially free of the awful thoughts in her head, just feeling a small throbbing sensation where she had pulled as a reminder; she rolled to the side and started typing slowly with her only hand. Taking her time to answer as she pushed all bad thoughts away, she told herself that it truly wasn't a big deal; nothing bad was bound to happen, right?

 _Sure thing :) Let me know the details tomorrow :D G'night :)_

She looked at the smiling faces she had typed and hit send; wondering darkly if she would be able to smile for real after tomorrow.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The sun was starting to set when he sat on the big chair of his newly re-acquired office. The warmth rays casting shadows across the floor; chasing away the darkness momentarily as the sun started to disappear on the horizon. Sadly, it wasn't able to chase away his doubts and fears in quite the same way. He had talked extensively with his wife the last few days, about what needed to be done to help their daughter; what had to be done to help her before things got out of hand.

He ran a hand through his hair, combing it back without caring if he was messing it or not and took a look at what was waiting for him on the office desk. More letters, no doubt complaining about something or other. Between reading them and attending to his other duties, he wondered what was worse; since he had no mind to attend to these. He had been forced to rely even more than expected on Blake's assistant.

She had been keeping an eye on which groups were starting to grow less worried about the changes around the island politics and which were beginning to become a bit of a trouble. And above all that, she had been reporting about what this Rouge Lycannas was up to. He had been too affected by her words towards his own daughter to even entertain the idea of opening her latest letters, even if he thought it wise to keep tabs on her.

It was becoming obvious to him that balancing his worry for his daughter as well as his worry about the matters of the island was starting to take a toll on him, he had been noticing way more white hairs in his beard lately and he was starting to develop a migraine. But he wasn't alone in this, Kali had been so as well. She had started doing her own investigation on what the people thought about Blake's absence and whether or not they would be happy to have her back or not. She had her own ways of doing so and she had been fighting with herself about contacting Blake further than the message Ghira had sent before.

Saying they were preoccupied was an understatement. It had been 24 hours since they sent their message and there was no answer from their daughter. Only a notification that it had been read and nothing else; Kali wanted to talk to her but they had agreed that they wouldn't push for an answer. After all, this was something she had to decide on her own.

He dropped his hand and pushed himself off his chair, extending his body backwards to help with the numbness he felt on his muscles. He needed a break, it was too much already.

He was making his way towards the exit when the door was opened with enough strength to make him wary of the one who had done it. He was halfway from extending his claws when he recognized the small shape of his temporary assistant. She seemed out of breath and starting to talk faster than he could process.

\- "SirI'msosorryIhadtocomeasfastasIcouldIjust-".

\- "Whoa whoa there. Take a breath Miss Cuy, I can't understand what you are saying."- He had raised his palms towards her to let her calm down for a moment, but she seemed intent on talking anyway, only this time he caught what she meant.

\- "Sir, Miss Lycannas is coming to see you right now. I tried to explain that it's too late for you to receive her and she needs to make an appointment anyways but she said it was her right to talk to you, since you didn't answer any of her letters… I ran as fast as I could through the backdoor, your Grace."- She ended poorly as she reclined herself against the door, clearly out of breath.

Ghira felt his worry reach its peak when he heard the raised voice of his wife make its way to his ears. He cracked his shoulder as he rotated it quickly and made his way towards the door.

-"Thank you, Yana. Please, take a seat on the couch, I'll be back shortly."- He saw his assistant nod at him and continued on his way out. It didn't take him long to find where were the voices coming from, and soon enough he found them in the same place he had been visited by the Albain brothers all those years ago; at the entrance of his home.

There was his wife, bodily blocking the way of a girl who seemed only a few years younger than his own daughter. Kali had her ears pulled back and if she had fangs, they would be in full display now; opposite of her was a girl with red-orange hair, tanned skin and yellow eyes. Not golden like his own family, but eerily yellow; the kind of color that froze you to the spot while you thought if it was possible to have such eyes. He knew this because so where the eyes of his old friend turned martyr of the White Fang. You wouldn't know she was a Faunus, but he had seen the swiftness of her claws as she unsheathed them before, and he could see now that she was holding her arms next to her body, too stiff to be natural. No, she was holding her own feelings back.

\- "I don't want to repeat myself, young lady. You can't just barge in without a proper reason or a-"

-" I have a reason, Mrs. Belladonna. I'm a citizen of Menagerie who has been asking for an audience in her letters too many times already. Isn't there a section of our laws that talks about our right to make our voices heard if our leaders won't?"- Her voice was cold, but the cadence of it, the way she spoke… no, she was still holding something back. Ghira thought it was enough and made his presence known.

\- "That is an old law, Miss Lycannas. It has been revised in the last few years after the most recent war. Perhaps you should reacquaint yourself with them."- He saw the way Kali relaxed as he made his way towards the big wooden doors, likewise, he saw the way the wolf Faunus relaxed as well. He frowned slightly at this as he saw the way she made a small bow and said:

\- "I may have to do that, your Grace. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I've been wanting to speak with you for some time now."- She looked directly into his eyes and he felt the way it challenged his authority, the way it seemed to say that she was done with playing "nice". He knew she would be trouble but he wasn't prepared for this, not so soon anyways. He had an answer ready for her, though.

\- "I've been too busy, Miss Lycannas. As you may know, I get many messages from all over the Island. And I've… read some of the things you wrote to the previous Chieftess. Forgive me if I choose to pay attention to other more important affairs, Miss."-he didn't like these kind of situations, but some things needed to be said. He saw the way she glanced downwards and was surprised when she bowed once more, this time retaining the pose for longer.

\- "Once again, I'm deeply sorry, your highness. I'm merely a worried citizen and a young one to boot. I didn't have my parents long enough for them to teach me manners. I wrote those out of anger and I know I shouldn't do that. Which is why I invite you to read the latest messages I sent your way, Your Grace."- Ghira blinked as he struggled on what to say. He exchanged a look with Kali, who looked at him with an expression of confusion with some anxiety mixed in. He glanced back at the girl and saw the way she had been studying them, even if she was still bowing. He saw yellow and once again he was reminded of Rojizo, her father. Bowing and asking him to take care of his daughter before they parted ways; his yellow eyes piercing his soul and making him nod at him, agreeing to do so. He had tried, and he had failed, if her presence in his home was any indication of it.

-"Stand up, Rouge. I will look upon your messages and you will get an answer in the next few days. Don't try to get into my house without an invitation again, though. I will not be as kind."- He could have been rougher than that; this girl had not only insulted his daughter, but was dangerous to the peace of the island and all that Blake had managed to do in her tenure, or at the very least, a threat.

The young woman simply stood up again and nodded at him. She looked at Kali this time and apologized quickly; she turned around and made her way out of the premises. Her shoulders stiff and her arms unmoving. Ghira saw her leave and finally let himself relax. His own claws doing so as well; he hadn't even noticed he had been so at edge. It made him feel ashamed that his instincts told him to be ready to defend himself from a citizen of the Island, not even only that, but defend himself from a girl he had promised to look after.

He felt a hand on his arm and turned to look into Kali's eyes, her own expression of worry all over her face. Some kind of understanding passed between them with a look and they just stood there close to each other, aware that that situation couldn't be ignored any longer.

They turned to make their way inside their home when they heard someone coming from inside one of the halls. Ghira would be preoccupied if it wasn't that he recognized where it was coming from, and soon enough he saw his temporal assistant making her way towards them.

\- "Your Grace, is everything alright? I know you told me to wait but…"- Ghira smiled at the girl and said:

\- "Don't worry Miss Cuy, we will deal with that later. Is there a reason you came looking for me just now?"- Yana nodded and said:

\- "Yes, your grace. I was waiting on your office when I heard a beeping noise close by, it was the holo-projector from the adjacent room. You have a notification, both of you. It's a message, from the Chief."- At her words, both Ghira and Kali looked at one another. They almost sprinted towards the room where they kept the holo-projector, Yana chasing behind.

They made their way in and Kali started to operate it; they soon were met with the face of their daughter as the contact that had messaged them. There was no title, only a few sentences that read:

 **Let the elders and heads of family know that it's done. No need to go to the CCT. It's late and I'm tired. I'll talk to you tomorrow. I love you.**

If Ghira could have groaned, he would have. That didn't quite answer what he needed to know. A few seconds passed and no one dared say anything, until they heard a small squeak like chuckle and turned their eyes towards the rodent Faunus; a smirk was plastered on her face and her nose scrunched every few seconds.

\- "Your grace, I think your daughter is too cryptic for her own good."

* * *

 **And that was it xD Let me know what you thought of this chapter :) I forgot to translate the names for you before, so here i go:**

 **Rouge is french for red**

 **Rojizo means red-like in spanish**

 **and Lycannas is a mash between Lycan and some last-name suffix or something xD**

 **Let me know what you thought of this chapter :) anything from constructive criticism to encouraging words is welcome :)**

 **Thanks for reading :D**


	19. Chapter 19

**I AM ALIVE! THIS STORY IS ALIVE! I'm so sorry guys, i will bore you with my lenghty story of how i almost became raven, but didn't at the end of the chapter. Just enjoy the second longest chapter in this fic. (You might want to refresh you memories a bit, i sugest reading from chapter 17). ENJOY!**

* * *

Watching the time go by wasn't something anyone would think Weiss Schnee liked to do; instead they would picture her doing her utmost effort to do things in their right time, only checking a few times and nodding to herself in satisfaction because of her punctuality. Like patting herself in the back for doing a great job just in time to jump to the next thing in the agenda.

Well… turns out that Weiss Schnee of the many titles has had a full agenda ever since she took the reins of the company and started fixing everything that her father had managed to screw with. It had been no secret that she favored Vale over Atlas, and not a surprise when she moved indefinitely over there and started her own family.

She had been trusted with the future and life of so many people, she couldn't help it to work harder for them, since it had been clear from the start that Vale lacked financial support and so many other things to start the reconstruction of the kingdom. It was a very taxing job and it had begun taking its toll on her. Sure, she would not notice white hairs in her already white-like locks, but there were times where she could feel everything that worried her piling up on her shoulders. Weighting her down and reminding her at the same time that she was probably the only person in Remnant capable of such a feat.

Even then, Weiss allowed herself to take 5 minutes for every four hours of work; dealing with the SDC's reports from all the corners of the world, plus her work in Vale, plus keeping her eye, sort to speak, on the people that had once claimed to be her family so they would not be able to pull the rug under her even if they lived a thousand lives… well, it was quite obvious why she had to work so much.

Still, she always made time for her daughter and her wife. Her real family, and just recently, the ones that had been estranged; the ones she also had to worry about and take action for… because who else If not her?

Weiss sighed as she watched another minute pass by on the clock to her left, only 2 more to go and then it was back again to work… for the last hour anyways. The day was almost over now, so there was no reason for her to fret really. Her office was… good enough to not hate the amount of things she had to look over and sign. She had enough space to stand up, pace about and even make herself some coffee. Because she refused to have anyone serving her, because she clearly could do it herself and because it was almost therapeutic to brew herself some.

She sighed as she entered the last 60 seconds of her break and reminded herself that she had decided against taking another mug; she didn't need to be awake that much longer, no matter how lovely the strong taste of the drink was.

With 30 seconds to go, Weiss sat herself upright in her comfy swivel chair, cracking her neck to the side as she eyed the screens before her and the paperwork that awaited her, next to her colored pens and post-its. She looked to her right and smiled as she saw the pictures she kept of her loved ones. Baby Blau in a lovely blue blanket being held by Ruby, their wedding picture, that one time they had visited Winter in Atlas and managed a small smirk from her; one of Tai hugging a happy Ruby and Blau, one Ruby had taken of Yang and herself mock riding Yang's bike before Blau was born (you could see the blonde trying her hardest to keep her smile in place), the one that had hit the news, before the team parted ways and the one from Beacon.

She looked at these pictures every time she needed to throw herself back into her work, to give all that she could for the people she loved, and those she wanted to help as well.

Her break was done and she was ready to go; she opened a new file when suddenly a beep alerted her of something. Before she could get to her scroll, all her screens showed her the same, the face of her wife video calling her.

Even as she knew that these were different times, peaceful even, she couldn't help but feel like something wasn't right; Ruby wouldn't call her at this hour for nothing when she could just as easily text her about it, or just do a regular call.

As the fear grew, she quickly hit answer and her monitors made another beep as she could see her wife in real time, she wasn't smiling as per usual and was looking at something behind the scroll. She was hit with some buried down memories… a different time, where being associated with the SDC meant certain risks, so without meaning to, she let some of her emotions out of her grip.

\- "Is everything alright? Are you hurt? Where's Blau?!"- The words had come out of her mouth quicker than the last. Ruby didn't seem to be in any situation that would elicit such a response, but she wasn't born yesterday. She had grown in a context where family friends and board members had "disappeared" out of her life; even in times of peace she knew they could be a target. And she had seen the recordings, her father had made sure she wouldn't forget the victims of the White Fang… she remembered the one where they had tried to held someone for ransom. The disconnected look of the victim, watching the one holding the scroll in front of their face, as they were used like puppets, demanding something or other she didn't understand. Her father had denied them something, and then…. She remembered the screaming… the screaming that was coming out of the speakers, and out of her own lungs.

She didn't realize how quickly she was breathing until Ruby's voice got to her.

\- "Whoa, take it easy there Weiss. It's ok. Look at me! I'm fine! Blau is sleeping. Breathe in, now out… there. You see? I'm sorry I startled you."- She closed her eyes as she cursed under her breath. She had lost her cool… it didn't happen often, but she tried her best not to show it. Not when it was about a fear that could be a reality… As much as she tried to clean the Schnee name, it wasn't an easy task… some parts of the world still thought the worse of them… of her. She was more important now that her father had ever been, there were some who didn't like her living in Vale and there were some who didn't like her in power of the company.

She was afraid that something would happen to them, more afraid that she had shown before without meaning to tonight. She opened her eyes again and saw understanding in Ruby's face. She raised one hand to the bridge of her nose and said:

\- "It is not your fault, it should be me apologizing for screaming at you, I'm just…"- she felt the tension in her shoulders again, grabbing her in a vice that was too strong to get out of alone.

\- "I'm really tired."- As she said it, she realized it was true. Not a normal kind of tired, she was just exhausted, she had too much on her plate to deal with. It was no wonder she had been taking days off here and there this past few weeks. She looked into silver eyes and saw recognition in them. She knew, Ruby knew how she felt, just wanted to let her realize it by herself. She slumped forward a bit and accepted that she could grant herself this moment of weakness.

\- "It's ok Weiss, you've done a great job. We love you so much, we are proud of you every day."- Ruby smiled at her through the screen and Weiss could feel the tears starting to gather at the corner of her eyes. She managed to nod slowly as she dried them discreetly and made a point to speak to Ruby about her recent fears. It was a conversation they had had before, only without some of the terrible details of her memories…

She shook herself out of those thoughts as she remembered why she had been afraid in the first place.

\- "By the way Ruby, not that you need to have a reason but… why did you video call me at this time?"- Ruby's soft expression changed to one of mild sadness as she once again redirected her gaze towards something over the scroll. Going by the furniture she could see behind her, Weiss supposed she was looking at the door of their bedroom.

\- "I'm not sure anymore… I guess, I just wanted you to tell me to calm down about something, but it was a dumb idea. Don't worry about it."- Weiss raised an eyebrow in response and leaned towards the screen.

\- "Ruby, I'm ok. I swear. And you know you can tell me anything about how you're feeling, right? It has to be something important, or you could have just waited to tell me. I'm listening, and I'm here for you, I've always been."- Weiss felt her words making her way into her heart and waited for a second in hopes that they reached her wife as well.

Ruby seemed to come to terms with something, raised her eyes once more towards the door and redirected her gaze towards her scroll.

\- "You know how Blake went out early today, said she had breakfast plans with Yang?"- Of course she remembered, she had been drinking her coffee when Blake came out of the guest room with a weird expression in her face, like she was looking past where her sight laid. She had made a point to look into Weiss' eyes before she said goodbye, making her assume that she was going to have that talk… maybe. She wasn't too sure if the Belladonnas in Menagerie had actually done anything in regards to her letter, but she hoped that it would happen soon anyways.

\- "Yes, I remember."- She didn't know what did that had to with anything… unless… She felt her heart beating quicker

\- "Ruby? What happened? Is Blake ok? Is Yang…?"- She didn't know if she wanted to complete that sentence. Ruby visibly sighed and said:

\- "I wanted to call you before, because I hadn't heard from them at all and… I just had this feeling, gut feeling… Then I couldn't take it anymore and wanted to call you, and as soon as I did, I heard the door downstairs. I tried to listen to the footsteps, but think it was only one person. Then you answered and I'm not sure, but I think I heard the guest room door closing."

\- "So hopefully Blake is back, but you're not sure?"- Ruby nodded at her and said:

\- "Yes, but I find it weird that she didn't call out for me, or the fact that Yang is not with her. All these other days, when they come back, Yang swings by and stays at least for a little while…"- Ruby looked at her with uncertainty in her eyes and added: - "Should I do something? Should I knock on her door? Call Yang?".

Weiss felt herself grow as anxious as her wife sounded and couldn't help to notice she had stood up mid-explanation. She had one hand on her hip and the other on her brow, nursing the headache that was developing.

What was going on? At face value she could infer that things had gone badly, but if that was the case, would Blake return to their home just like that? Being the first to blame herself, that wouldn't be the case. She would've stayed out until midnight and gone back to take her things in the middle of the night and then… Weiss snickered to herself, realizing this was the other Blake, the one that had come back not the young one that had ran away. This Blake would have come back to their house, and then probably cry her eyes out all night, then told them all what happened before leaving to Menagerie the next day. It was a troubling thought still.

Then what about Yang? Where was she? Back to the shoddy place she had been staying at? Had she gone somewhere else? Riding her bike to who knows where? Or was she absolutely destroyed, thinking about her life, doing...

\- "Ruby, I have to finish a few documents here, and then I'll go back home right away. Don't worry too much. Be aware of whatever Blake might be doing and call me if something new pops-up. I'll try to contact Yang on my own, I'll take care of it."- Ruby nodded as Weiss tried not to look as worried as she was, they said their goodbyes and Weiss threw herself back to her work, as her thoughts kept on ramping up, thinking of the many possibilities that could be happening at the moment.

Blake was at home, 12 hours or so after she had gone to have breakfast with Yang. She hadn't said a word to Ruby and had gotten back at her room. In 12 hours she should've plenty of time to talk to Yang about Menagerie and the Chieftess thing; or plenty of time to chicken out. Either way, even if she hadn't said a word to Yang, she should've gotten back with her hours ago, and she would have at least said goodbye to Ruby.

As she was putting her signature in the last document, Weiss eyed her scroll; a wild impulse of calling both making its way into her mind. But she refrained herself, put the cap on her pen and delicately took her scroll in her hands.

A minute later, she decided to open her chat; looking at the picture of her sister in-law, she started to write. A few seconds later, she read what she had wrote:

Hello, Yang. How was your day? Anyway, Ruby told me a few weeks ago that you thought I was too busy with my work and that perhaps I should take a break, play some videogame you told her about. I must say, I have been "swamped" with all these worldwide affairs in the last few weeks; so a little break sounds marvelous, even if I might find myself enjoying something as childish as a videogame. Would you mind telling me the name of this miracle entertainment? I have half a mind to check it out for myself after all. I could even enlist your help in this endeavor. Let me know if you are available anytime soon.

That sounded subtle enough, right? Perhaps a little long but a good explanation nonetheless to be writing to her about without mentioning Blake at all.

Weiss hit send and waited for the indication that the message had been received. No such thing happened that night.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

There's something to say about being anxious. It sucks. Or so Blake thought as she was pacing in her room, trying not to make too much noise or she could wake the occupants of the Schnee-Rose home. Today was the day she told nothing but the truth to Yang, no matter what… right? Yes, she was right, it wasn't fair to keep on keeping it to herself.

She could feel the perspiration starting to appear on her brow, making her feel a hundred times more uncomfortable than what she felt already. She didn't want to feel this way, but there was no stopping it now, she had told Yang she was going to treat her to breakfast, she had already texted her the location and made it so that way she wouldn't have to eat her anxiety on her way to the place.

She gulped with some effort at the thought of Yang listening intently to what she had to say, trying not to imagine her reaction, the moment she realized Blake hadn't been a 100% honest. She was still bound to her people, to her ideals, to her hopes for the future. In a way, Menagerie still depended on her and she depended on the result of her endeavors. Years upon years of working towards justice and equality, she would leave it all behind if it meant she could be around Yang, be a friend, a partner, perhaps more. But… to be honest with herself, she would keep on worrying, for all the things she had worked upon. She would be crushed if her long term dream would crumble before her very eyes. But she would be with Yang, in whatever form she decided to keep her in the following hours.

She started to feel nauseous then, she could her stomach clenching on itself, demanding to be bereft of this altercation with her own emotions.

Blake held both hands on her belly, then around herself, trying to appease this feeling she was way too familiar with. She tried to keep her cool, tried to distract herself, feeling the scroll in her pocket, thinking about the alarm she had programmed in it in case she was running late to her meeting with Yang. Instead, that made her remember the message she had received the night before. Before she texted Yang, before she made her mind.

With shaky hands, she took her scroll out and opened the message that had changed her course of action:

 **BLAKE BELLADONNA, THIS IS YOUR CHIEFTAIN SPEAKING. AS YOU KNOW, WE ARE 6 DAYS SHORT OF YOUR TIME RUNNING OUT IN THE SPECIAL CONDITIONS YOU HAD TO LEAVE ME IN CHARGE. WHEN THE TIME IS UP, PROTOCOL DEMANDS THAT I AM TO BE MADE TRANSITIONARY CHIEFTAIN, AFTER 6 MONTHS OF RULING, THERE WILL A NEW CONVOCATORY AND I WON'T BE ABLE TO BE ELECTED IN ANY WAY POSSIBLE.**

 **I HAVE BEEN REMINDED TO TELL YOU BY THE COUNCIL OF ELDERS THAT ACCORDING TO THE LAW, UNLESS YOU HAVE BEEN RESTRICTED BY SEVERE SICKNESS AND CAN'T COME BACK FOR REASONS OUTSIDE OF YOUR POWER AND WILL, YOU WILL BE DECLARED** _ **IGNAVUS MAXIMUM**_ **. YOU WILL HAVE A WINDOW OF 2 WEEKS TO COME BACK TO THE ISLAND AND EXPLAIN WHAT HELD YOU BACK IN BOTH SCENARIOS. DEPENDING ON YOUR ANSWER, YOU WILL BE DECLARED FREE OF RESPONSABILITIES OR MADE INTO AN EXILE. IF YOU DON'T RETURN IN THAT WINDOW OF TIME. YOU WILL BE DECLARED** _ **PERSONA NON GRATA**_ **.**

 **I HAVE ALSO DECIDED TO MAKE IT KNOW TO THE OTHER KINGDOMS THE NEED WE HAVE FOR HUNSTMEN AND HUNTRESSES IN THE MISSION BOARDS. AS SUCH, I ORDER YOU TO MAKE IT SO IN THE VALE BOARDS IN THE NEXT 24 HOURS, AFTER THAT, I WILL ASK THE MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL IN THE OTHER KINGDOMS TO DO THE SAME. GO TO THE CCT. YOU KNOW WHAT CONDITIONS NEED TO BE MET.**

 **THIS IS THE END OF THE MESSAGE.**

It was daunting at first when her eyes had met the big text-wall in all caps, but she didn't need to read who had sent it to know it was her dad. He only wrote in caps for the simple reason that he could read it better that way. She was also familiar enough with her dad that she could read between the lines.

If this was only about the time of leave she had, there wasn't a need to order her about the mission boards, there wasn't even a need to tell her about how he couldn't be elected again after 6 months. She knew this, she knew all of this before she made her move. Somehow, Blake had a feeling that this was a wakeup call to finish what she had started and make a decision now.

Sure, he was pushing her to do the things that would make it easier for her to choose. She could abandon her duties and not be welcome into Menagerie forever as soon as 2 weeks and 6 days had passed, and then make it into the news, as the ex-Chieftess that had been exiled by her people. _Ignavus Maximum._ The biggest coward.

She could wait for the 24 hours to pass and let every Huntsmen and Huntress of the Kingdoms know that the TEMPORAL Chieftain of Menagerie was issuing a mission.

Or she could do it herself. Issue the order in Vale, right next to a questioning Yang.

Either way… it would be known, to the only person that mattered the most.

It was at that moment, that her alarm made its appearance. She was going to be late unless she left at that very moment. So she made a quick trip into the inside bathroom and splashed some water into her face, to help her clear her head.

A few minutes later, she was saying goodbye to her teammates and on her way to Yang.

She was in quite the situation, but the message from her father had made it clear to her. She was going to do this and there was no other way. By the end of the day, Yang would know.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

To say that she was worried was an understatement. She had tried to make herself think that it was nothing to be concerned about, but she really couldn't help the gut feeling she had before. And not even only that, Blake had been silent since she closed the door to the guest room and she had no idea what was going on. Talking to Weiss had worked for a few minutes, but she had a feeling that there was something else she wasn't aware of.

She was holding her scroll in her hands, fighting the impulse to call her sister, to call Blake, to throw it on the bed and go confront Blake about the lack of her sister's voice when she had arrived. She tried to reign in her own emotions about the possibility of being kept out of something important. She had seen the way Weiss had reacted and she was almost certain that her wife knew something she didn't. And if this was something Weiss couldn't share with her, it meant it was Blake's deal, and by proxy, her sister's deal.

She took a look at her baby's crib where the little flower was resting and It was at that moment that she decided she needed to do something, so she left the scroll gently on the bed and made her way to the door, trying to be as stealthy as possible.

As she made her way through her home, she started questioning what would she do if she found out something had happened with her sister. She was glad Blake had come back, but she would be sorry if she had hurt her sister again in any way.

Making her way to the guest room door, she tried make her breathing as quiet as she was able, realizing that there was a high chance Blake was aware of her coming closer.

When she was inches away from touching the handle to open the door and peek inside, a weird noise made it to her ears. It sounded almost like…

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

It was a good day to take a stroll through town, or it would be if she wasn't running late to her meeting with Blake. All sorts of things had happened since she woke up until the moment she was running through the streets of downtown Vale.

First of all, she had been woken up by the biggest ruckus ever. She hadn't been paying too much attention on what the issue was (considering that there was a nightclub somewhere below her), only that it was too early to be awake, if the color of the sky was any indication. Second of all, she had been ready to go out to do some running around the block when she realized there was too much commotion to be a regular day. So she had texted Blake about their rendezvous and made her way towards the entrance of Junior Motel. It was a good thing she had done that before her Scroll had been crushed under the full strength of her right fist, as soon as she had seen what had happened under her nose. The place was filed by Junior's goons and the man himself was nervously shouting orders to scram as he saw her coming his way.

Long story short, some idiots with a death wish had managed to blow up a section of the storage that was at the side of the Motel, and by doing so, one of the walls that protected her Bumblebee had crumbled to dust. So when she saw that her precious bike was gone, the scroll was a goner.

It spoke volumes of her restrain that she hadn't hurt anyone in the vicinity, and that she had a mind to retrieve the chip on the scroll that held her files and personal information. Luckily for her, it was intact. What wasn't intact though, was her pride. She was a ranked Huntress for crying out loud, how did she allow this to happen?!

She had begun her manhunt through Vale as soon as she had gotten some descriptions of the thieves. It took her an hour, and a brief talk with the Vale Police to help her locate her baby behind some dumpsters. She was laying on her side, with the paint chipped where the thieves had made a dent and some scratches against the pavement and no gasoline in the tank, no doubt syphoned. Apparently the thieves either realized the color enough was very recognizable, that they wouldn't be able to ride her like a normal bike (customized directional systems and all) or that it had her crest painted in black on it. More explicitly, the crest of a very known Huntress on it.

An hour later, she was running late and a few hundred lien poorer after making her way into the only surviving place in Vale where they could fix the dent and paint her baby again. Sure, she could punch the dent back into place, but she was going to leave it to the professionals.

It must have been a funny sight, watching Yang Xiao Long, Huntress extraordinaire running around Vale with her poor Bumblebee at her back.

So there she was, trying to make it in time to her appointment with Blake. Holding back her anger at the completely ridiculous thing that had happened earlier. Luckily for her though, she was right on time as she saw Blake arriving at the same time as her, walking fast as if she was late as well.

-"Blake! Hello! I'm sorry, I hope I'm not late."- She managed to slow down as she neared her partner, who was just realizing she was in front of her.

\- "Yang! Oh don't worry! I just managed to get here myself. Are you ok? You seem like you've been running around."- Yang tried not to laugh at the situation and managed a small: - "Oh, you've no idea."- She regulated her breathing and added: - "By the way, my scroll is dead. I'm sorry if I missed any of your texts."- At that Blake's eyebrow rose a little, tilting her head slightly in confusion. – "Don't worry, I'll tell you all about it in a minute. Shall we?"-.

Blake seemed somewhat appeased by her brief explanation and nodded at her. Yang made a gesture with her arm as she indicated the way to the door. Inside, it was a weird combination of restaurant and library, with bookshelves separating the tables, making it seem like it was more private somehow.

Half an hour later after telling her about her terrible day; they were seating across to each other in the almost empty breakfast place, eating some tuna sandwich, pancakes and drinking orange juice and tea in comfortable silence at one of the corners. Or so Yang thought at first, but as the minutes started to pass, she could see Blake was back with her fidgeting of the previous days. She was wondering how she should approach the situation when she saw Blake finish her tea and ask for seconds. She then turned her body to look at her directly and said: - "Yang, I wanted to talk with you. I told you not to worry, so I want to reiterate that". -

The blonde would be lying if she said she wasn't worried. She was plenty worried, since she had noticed that something was still bothering Blake. So she nodded at her and hummed at her to continue. Blake then took a few seconds to think about something and after a heavy sight, she managed to say: - "Yang, I'm not the Chieftess of Menagerie at the moment…"- clearly she was waiting some kind of reaction from her, but she was only slightly confused.

-"Yeah? I mean, you said that before. Your dad is in charge now, right?"- Blake nodded slowly, looking into her eyes, as her hands played with the napkin on her lap. –"Yes, he is in charge now. But…". - She was having trouble to let it out, whatever "it" was. So Yang moved her chair closer and put her hand softly over hers, the touch making her tremble with warmth.

-"Blake, don't be afraid. We have come a long way; you can tell me anything. I promise I won't say a word about it if you don't want me to."- She smiled at her, trying to convince that it would be ok…. And maybe trying to convince herself as well.

Blake's ears seemed to be at war with what was happening, they had risen in surprise when she put her hand over hers, and the drooped all the way down after she tried to convince her. Blake sighed one last time, and made full contact with her eyes as she said at last:

\- "He's only the Temporal Chieftain. I… am on leave now. I'm supposed to come back, to Menagerie."-. Yang was too worried trying to understand to notice her hand had slipped off of Blake's.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

She noticed the change in Yang's eyes as soon as she had said that, it was almost like she wasn't fully there. Worried, she was the one to reach for her hand now.

-"Yang? Before you say or think anything, this doesn't mean this changes anything. It's precisely why I didn't bring it up when we first talked… Yang?"- She was trying to get her attention now, bring her back from wherever she was inside her mind, no doubt thinking the worst again. But Blake wasn't going to make the effort of the last weeks go to waste, so she stood up to the side and held Yang's cheek on her hand, making her look into her eyes, hoping to bring her back. Not realizing she was starting to sound a bit desperate.

-"It's ok. I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying with you, remember? I'm here. Can you see me?"- It took a few seconds, but she could see Yang's gaze coming back into her eyes. Not sure what she was reading on them. Was that pain? Panic? Sadness?

\- "Blake…"- It was the small way she had uttered her name that made Blake send all insecurities to hell and just embrace Yang with all she had.

\- "I didn't mean to scare you like that, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!"-

\- "Blake, wait… Wait a second!"- She sounded a bit angry now, and as soon as she said that, Blake let her go, afraid she might have screwed it up again. She put some distance from her and let her talk her mind. She thought she was past feeling guilty after the talk at the motel, but oh boy! was she wrong.

\- "Just… let me ask you some things, ok? Just so I can get this straight."- Blake nodded as she felt the nausea creeping up back again.

\- "So… are you still the Chieftess?"-

\- "No, I'm not the Chieftess of Menagerie unless I return.". - Yang nodded and added quickly.

\- "But, the people there think that you are going to return, right?". – Blake, was starting to regret all the things she had done all those years ago, just so she wouldn't have to be living this moment.

-"In a way, yes. They do.". - Yang averted her eyes to the forgotten food, and nodded slowly.

\- "But you just said that you are still planning to stay with me? No matter what?"- This she could work with, she felt her heart soar, aware of what she would lose if she said yes.

-"Yes, Yang. I'll stay with you. No matter what."- She put all the sincerity she could muster in one phrase, hoping it would be enough to put the topic to rest. Yang, nodded again and then turned her gaze on her, serious as she could be; however, contrasting with her eyes, her voice was as soft as ever.

\- "Do you want to go back?"- And that was the question Blake didn't want to answer. Probably the worst question ever in the situation, because she did want to. She armed herself of valor, and said:

\- "I want to be wherever you want to be, whenever. As much as I would like to go back there and finish what I started some years ago… I made my choice. I chose to search for you, and here we are."- She tried to smile at her, but she couldn't commit fully, knowing what she was leaving out of her response. Yang seemed to notice this, as she blinked some kind of emotion out of her system.

\- "So… you do then. Ok. Tell me… what happens if you don't return?"- Blake flinched a bit and cursed her heritage for it.

\- "If I don't return, then my father becomes the Chieftain again, for half a year, after that… there will be a call to elect a new Chief."-Yang seemed unhappy with the answer and said:

\- "Not what I meant. What happens to you?"- Blake was wrong before, this was the question she didn't want to answer. She could feel her fingers closing into themselves, her ears completely down.

\- "Before I answer that… I want you to know that I didn't tell you all of this because I was scared you would send me away, before giving me a chance to prove to you that I really want to be with you."- She could feel her cheeks starting to burn as much as she could feel her brow starting to sweat, but she had been ready to say the truth, so she was going to say it, as soon as Yang told her to continue.

\- "If I don't come back at the end of my leave, I have 2 weeks to go back and explain what happened, then… the council of elders decides my fate. If I don't come back after those 2 weeks, then I'm officially exiled and banned from stepping into the island ever again."- She had been looking at Yang directly as she spoke, reading every emotion that could come across her face. She had been serious as she started, but her features had softened and she looked a bit confused and sad now. Blake hated that had to put this much strain on her.

\- "Even after all you've done?"- her words were soft, like velvet. Worried somehow.

-"Yes, they would. It's the law."- She had been looking down as she said it, so she missed the way Yang had shaken her head no; what she didn't miss was the way Yang had reached for her hand over the table.

\- "No. I meant that… Knowing what would happen to you… and after all the things you've done… you'd leave it all… for a chance to be around me?"- There was some intensity in her eyes, that Blake was familiar with and yet… something she didn't know. She couldn't speak, afraid she might say something wrong, so she just nodded… realizing too late that with the movement, a drop of her unshed tears had fallen. Was she crying? Was this what it meant to sacrifice your dreams for the woman you love?

She was left speechless when Yang stood up as well and returned the embrace she had pushed aside before.

\- "Blake… you don't have to… I don't… I…your work, your dreams… I would never ask that of you…"- She was done holding back, so she just embraced her back and said with a shaky voice: - "Please, Yang. Don't send me away. I want this. Just to be here with you... That means the world to me… I've been far away for too long…"- It seemed Yang was at a loss of words, so she just clung to her, trying not to lose it and bawl her eyes out. Finally, Yang added.

\- "Blake… let's talk it some more, ok? Let's just… hit the town for a bit, ok? Maybe we just need some fresh air."

O0o0o0o0o0o

Blake had payed and they had made their way into the new streets of Vale, the part that had been in construction a couple of years before. They hadn't said much at first, a bit afraid of the high range of emotions they had going on. Until Yang finally said:

\- "Blake, I am… feeling a bit conflicted about this. In some selfish level… I'm glad that you want to stay with me, but I can't help to be worried you might be doing something that could change your life for the worse… Let me finish please."- She said as Blake had opened her mouth to say something.

\- "We are talking about Exile, that's not a thing to be taken lightly. Would you be ready to branded that way?"- Blake didn't trust herself to speak, so she just nodded again.

\- "And when does your permit of leave end?"- Blake cringed at the question but answered anyways: - "In 6 days."- Yang stopped walking as she said so.

-"6 DAYS?! Blake! When were you planning on telling me this?"- Blake stopped as well, and turned in her direction, her gaze firmly on the floor.

\- "I was scared you would react this way, tell me to pack my things… I would have waited a bit longer…"

\- "What made you change your mind?"- Blake sighed, crossing her arms and hunching over herself.

\- "Many things… but mostly, my father I guess. He sent me a message last night… reminding me that I was running out of time."- Yang sighed deeply and brought her hand towards the bridge of her nose, pinching with her regular fingers.

\- "I understand why you've been acting this way now. Ok, ok. Let's try to find a solution to this. There has to be one… let's see… The option that doesn't brand you forever is…?"- Blake interrupted then, aware of the answer.

\- "If I go back before the time is up, and just… abdicate, stating that I'm incapable of continuing with the work and responsibility I've been bestowed upon. The best case scenario is that the elders accept this and then I'm free to go."- Yang made a noise at the back of her throat and Blake was sure now that Yang was looking a for an answer where she didn't give up on her dreams.

\- "Yang, we might as well, go with that one, it's the best we have and I've said it before. I've been giving my life and time to the people of Menagerie for too long now, I'm ready to let It go."- At this, Yang seemed to snap back to attention.

\- "Blake, we both know that isn't true, so I would appreciate it a lot if you stopped lying to me and more importantly, to yourself."- Blake knew she was right, so she opted to try and change the subject a little.

\- "How about, we keep on walking? My dad asked me to do something at the CCT."- This piqued Yang's interest.

-"Really? What's that?"- That simple question reminded Blake of Something Weiss had suggested before, something she had shot down because of many reasons.

\- "Well… I'm not supposed to make this known to the public in any way… but the short version is that my dad discovered unexplored lands at the south of the continent. This could be… the chance we've been waiting in order to come forward in our future."- She was trying to remind herself why she had thought it was a bad idea to let Yang know about the mission and at the same time, trying to gauge Yang's reaction to the news. So far, she seemed curious.

\- "So, how does that have to do something with the CCT?"- Blake tried not to look too nervous as she explained.

\- "The place has the potential to be the most dangerous place never explored in Remnant. There are not many Huntsmen or Huntresses in Menagerie, not even sufficiently experienced to do some good in this situation. So, there was some conversation about making this a mission with some requirements."- When she finished, Yang was looking at her like she had said something without any logic or sense, or if she was very close to a breakthrough.

\- "Blake… is being a Faunus a requirement?"- She said it softly, but Blake could see the gears turning in her head. Even then, Blake had to be honest.

\- "Unfortunately… yes, it is… Kind of"- Yang's frame had hunched over herself as she admitted to it, until she said the last words.

\- "What do you mean with "kind of"?"- She was holding her arms out, trying to reach for the truth. Blake sighed and said:

\- "They have to be Faunus, had completed a certain number of missions, work excellently as a team, be discreet and be ready to die a painful death."-Yang was squinting at her now, her head thrown to the side, aware of something she hadn't said.

\- "Where does the Kind of fit into that?"- Blake realized she had gotten it before she needed to explain it.

\- "We are still in development as a continent of sorts… we don't have sufficient resources to hire lots of teams of Faunus with the quantity of missions that are required for this job. So, there was the chance that if the team didn't have enough missions under their belt, we could have the addition of one human. Only one."-

\- "How many missions as a team? How many on their own?"

\- "A total sum of 1500, between a full team."- Yang looked down at her boots and asked:

\- "And who is supposed to lead this group of Huntsmen? I imagine your father is out of the equation? "- Blake turned around now, not ready to see Yang's reaction, and said:

\- "I was…". -

\- "Hmm… I see. Well then. We'll take it."- Utterly confused, Blake turned around, there was a sly smile on Yang's face now.

\- "I'm sorry? What?!"-

\- "You heard me. No need for the mission board. There's a partner team in Vale already that has some availability and that I'm sure the team leader of Menagerie will approve of. There's a Faunus in it, that has completed… what, a couple hundred missions? And this other girl that has like… been doing missions non-stop for 5 years and clears that requirement by herself? They have a history of being pretty rad in tandem and keeping things to themselves. Pretty sure, we check out all the boxes. I could do without the dying part though…"- Blake hadn't been ready for Yang to pretty much jump at it, being sure before that she wouldn't.

\- "Yang, wait a second. This mission is not a one week or one-month mission. This could take a really long time; a partner team is not enough to deal with that."

\- "Blake, I don't mind staying for a while. I mean… if you wanted to be the Chieftess again, I wouldn't mind either" It was Yang's chance to blush now. Reaching for the back of her neck with her left hand as Blake stood there, aghast.

\- "What about living a life where you don't know what tomorrow might bring? What about the plans of going all over Remnant? What about your freedom? I choose to let my dreams aside, but I couldn't live with myself seeing you turn down yours."- She was feeling the tears at the corner of her eyes, trying to make an appearance again, and they would, when Yang said:

\- "Blake, for the last 5 years I wasn't sure if I was going to survive the next day, to see the light again. I didn't know what would happen to me, what mission I would take, where would I spend the night or wake up at. And let me tell you… I wasn't happy. That wasn't what I wanted to do. It kept me going, but that was it. Being with you again this past weeks… is the happiest I've felt in a long time. I'm not done seeing the world, but I'm ready to take a break. Specially, if I got you at my side.". -

There were no words that could explain how she felt, how they felt other than the realization that they were ready to cast aside the plans they had made individually, and mix them together into something that could be beautiful.

Blake broke down again, this time Yang followed her too as she got close enough to embrace her. Through her tears, she said:

\- "Just so you know, I'm still disappointed you didn't trust to tell me this before, but I kinda see why you did it. I mean… I would have sent you home if you told me that night, no doubt."- Blake let out a dark laugh between sobs and added: - "Ha! I knew it! Sorry I wasn't able to. But at the same time, I'm not sorry."- Yang laughed softly in her ear and was surprised when Blake pecked her lightly on the cheek.

-"Thank you, Yang. Thank you."- Yang only held her tighter to her, not wanting to hurt her, but to let her know without saying, what this meant to her.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o

Ruby opened the door as she heard the weird mix of a snore and the clicking of a scroll keyboard. There was Blake, soundly asleep on the bed, with the clothes she had last seen with, and standing to the side, no doubt sending a text was none other than her own sister.

Ruby wanted to scream and throw her something at the same time, but she didn't want to wake up Blake. So she mock whispered instead:

-"YANG! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?"- Yang turned around slowly and smiled at her in a way that reminded her of uncle Qrow.

-"Hey sis, what's up? Shhhh, don't wake Blake now, she fell asleep on the way here. Had to carry her, princess style…Sorry about that."- It took Ruby a second to notice something.

-"Yang, are you drunk? What the…?"- But Yang silenced with a gesture and told her to get out of the room as she threw the scroll on the bed covers. Outside she continued:

\- "That's Blake's. Texting her folks not to worry. I broke mine… got a new one sometime after lunch… didn't turn it on though…"-Ruby was starting to lose her cool.

\- "Yang, I was worried, you guys didn't call, didn't text. Even Weiss got really worried, I thought Blake had come alone."- Yang shook her head no and said:

-"Nahh Rubes. Today is the weirdest day ever. Got my bb stolen, found it. Got to run all over Vale, had a rollercoaster of emotions, got some stable job in an Island, had some lunch, had some cool karaoke and then happy hour started. Well… it was nice to chat, gotta go fast now. I kinda have to get my gear ready. See ya!"- She was making her way towards the entrance when Ruby took her left hand and twisted behind her back in a painful position.

\- "WOAH, Ruby what are you…?"

\- "Oh no, you are not done explaining anything. You are going to tell me right now what are you talking about. Also, ARE YOU INSANE? You are in no condition to go out alone back to that rat's nest. I doubt Blake was unconscious on your bike and I didn't hear it when you arrived. SO FESS UP!"- Yang was trying and failing to explain that she wasn't drunk, as Ruby demanded more answers, all this as they spun around in a circle as Yang tried to relieve pressure on her joint to no avail. All this stopped as the entrance door opened and a worried and confused Weiss made her way to them, her worried expression changing into one of annoyance as she took in what she was seeing.

\- "Why do I even bother worrying for you, Xiao Long? You never fail to make my wife regress to her 15 years. Hup pap pap! Explanations tomorrow, you're going to wake up Blau. Good night". - Ruby let go of Yang's wrist and said:

-"15? You are the one that gets drunk and I get scolded?"-

\- "I'm not drunk Ruby, just buzzing a little."- Ruby made a raspberry sound and said before walking upstairs to her room:

\- "Well buzz off in the couch. Goodnight."

* * *

 **Well, that was a thing! I apologize deeply to all of you, let me tell you the story of how we got here.**

 **If you might remmember, i last left you as i was going back to my classes in July. Classes were rough and didn't have too much time to write. I finished my classes and realized, dang, i have to work. So as i was sending out my resumé, i remembered i left you all in a cliffhanger, so i got back to writing. And i did, i wrote a sixth of this episode in December, then, as i was writing, i got a call from one of the places i submitted my resumé. And i was so excited, i wrote the adress inside the file of the fic. I worked hard thought out all summer until my classes started in march again, i got sick 3 times, got over it. And now we are here. Gotta say, i was surprised to find the adress of my workplace there at the bottom of the document. I was inspired, and this is what i made. I hope it was somewhat worthy to be honest, I'm not sure how many of you will even read this chapter, but iwant you to know that i'm really sorry. I won't let it happen again.**

 **My love for RWBY is unstopable and this fic is the most planned unplanned thing i've ever written. Say no to mama raven. Thank you all! Have a goood day/night!**

 **Let me know how much you hate me in a review below :'D**


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